The Author
by akakawaii
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya—a normal high school student who loves basketball. But he has a secret. At a joint training camp with Kaijo, Shutoku, Touo, Yosen, and Rakuzan, he makes the mistake of leaving his laptop open. Akashi, being the curious one he is, finds out that Kuroko is actually a famous fanfiction author for the one thing he never saw coming—smut. I own nothing but the plot.
1. Shock

The Author

Summary

Kuroko Tetsuya—a normal high school student who loves basketball. But he has a secret. At a joint training camp with Kaijo, Shutoku, Touo, Yosen, and Rakuzan, he makes the mistake of leaving his laptop open. Akashi, being the curious one he is, finds out that Kuroko is actually a famous fanfiction author for the one thing he never saw coming—smut.

Chapter One

Seirin was at a joint training camp with Kaijo, Shutoku, Touo, Yosen, Rakuzan. The coaches decided it would be a good idea to train by uniting the Generation of Miracles. It was after Winter Cup so they thought their players could improve for InterHigh by being put against their friends/rivals from other schools. They'd be training at the beach for a week, and they'd stay at the hot spring resort owned by Akashi's family nearby. The third years had graduated, but they were on break so they took the time to come back and train with their respective kohais. Heck, even Aida Kagetora and Alex tagged along.

The players had finished their training for the day and were currently laying out their futons for the night. All the coaches would be together in one room, the girls would be separated in another (obviously), and the different teams would be in their rooms. Seirin in one room, Kaijo in another, and so on.

But, due to some of the captains' complaints/requests, the Generation of Miracles would be in a separate room together.

"Now isn't this nostalgic?" Akashi said, looking at the futons they'd laid out in a circle.

"I suppose it is," Midorima said, pushing up his glasses.

"Yay! This'll be fun!" Kise yelled, happily.

"Shut up, idiot!" Aomine said, punching his shoulder. "You're too excited."

"So mean!"

"This is probably the only time I will say that Mine-chin is right," Murasakibara said.

"Kise-kun, do calm down," Kuroko said with a deadpan expression. He was sitting on his futon, typing on his laptop "I'm trying to finish something."

"But I have a reason for being so happy! This is gonna be just like in middle school!" he said.

"Indeed it will be similar, but we're in high school now," Kuroko said. "So you should _be more mature_."

Kuroko was finishing a chapter of his fanfic. It had quite a lot of views. Well, I guess I mean _a lot_. If I were to round down, he had about 900k views. He was already late on this update so he wanted to take this time to write. His most popular stories were the smutty ones. Kuroko had to admit, he was quite good at it since he didn't have any experience.

"Ha! Buuuurrrrrn!" Aomine said, not even trying to hold back his laughter for Kise's sake.

"Now, now," Akashi said as if he were calming children, which he was. "Why don't we go to the baths? It'll be a good way to relax after the hard day of training. Besides, we have to wash off the sweat from earlier."

"Okay, Aka-chin," Murasakibara said, munching on his chips.

"Murasakibara! Don't eat in the room! It's unsanitary!" Midorima scolded.

"Meh."

"Atsushi, refrain from it," Akashi ordered, his eye glinting.

"Okay, Aka-chin."

"Daiki, Ryouta, are you coming?" It was said more like an order than a question.

"Yes!" they said in unison.

They all walked out the door and went to the baths. But the Generation of Miracles, other than Akashi, didn't notice that the shadow wasn't with them. Akashi went back for Kuroko to find him furiously typing.

"Tetsuya?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go."

"Yes, Akashi-kun."

Kuroko quickly put his laptop down and rushed out, but there was his vital mistake: forgetting to close it.

Akashi was curious. He wanted to know what Kuroko was typing so passionately. He stepped over to the space next to Kuroko's futon and looked to the screen. The laptop was opened to a document titled 'Midnight by Kage no Kyou' in which was written:

 _He pushed me over and had me pinned to the bed, his knee between my legs, dangerously close to a certain area, and arms on both sides of my head. I blushed._

 _"W-we shouldn't b-be doing this. W-we'll get caught," I stuttered out, weakly trying to push him away._

 _He grabbed my wrists with one hand and put them above my head, leaving me vulnerable to him. "Does it matter?" he said. The vibrations from his voice sent chills down my spine._

 _He pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back as best I could since he had much more experience than I. My heartbeat was erratic. I yelped when he kneaded my growing erection. He used that chance to slip his tongue in and explore my mouth. I moaned. We battled for what seemed like hours. Sounds I didn't even know I could make slipped out of me._

 _I felt like I could faint. I needed air. It took all my strength to get him to break the kiss. I was panting, gasping for air that was immediately stolen from me when he licked my neck and started sucking._

 _"Hnnngh!"_

 _His mouth made its way down my neck and to my chest. His fingers pinched my nipple._

 _"Aaaahhh!"_

 _Blood was rushing in two contrasting directions: up to my face and down to my lower area. My pants were getting tight._

 _"More!"_

 _He chuckled. "And who said we shouldn't be doing this?"_

 _He quickly took off my shirt then ravaged my mouth. I let him of course. We've waited so long for this. I felt one of his hands move down. He unbuttoned my pants and slipped his hand into my boxers. After that, nothing was coherent anymore. The pleasure overrode my brain, turning my ability to think into mush._

Akashi's eyes went wide. He quickly closed the laptop then walked calmly out of the room, though, internally, he was anything but calm. He did not know what he just read. Well, I lied. He did know what he just read. But what he really didn't know was that Kuroko wrote _that_ kind of stuff.

When he got to the baths, he stripped down in the changing room and entered, reuniting with the other Miracles. Aomine and Kise were splashing water at each other like the childish teens they are while Midorima and Murasakibara just waded in the water. Midorima did not have his glasses on since they'd just fog up and he wouldn't be able to see, and Murasakibara didn't have his snacks since the employees wouldn't let him take them in. Then he saw Kuroko, covered in water up to his neck, steam surrounding him, with that innocently sweet face of his, which actually hid something within that was so… knowledgeable about the facts of life regarding two males.

I might not have mentioned it previously, but Akashi had feelings for Kuroko. Since middle school, he could never quite get over how the boy always exceeded his expectations. It caught the redhead's attention more than he thought it would. His eyes would follow him whenever he got the chance, and he had to admit Kuroko was awfully cute. His heart would beat fast whenever the boy was close.

Finding out that Kuroko was a smut author was a big shock to Akashi. He never really thought Kuroko was the type of person to write stuff like that. And, put simply, Akashi thought he had more inappropriate thoughts than the blue-haired boy, but his expectations were once again exceeded.

Being in the baths didn't help Akashi calm down or relax at all for his loved one was in the nude. He couldn't stop his imagination from picturing images. He couldn't get that scene that Kuroko had written out of his head, but in his imagination theater, he and Kuroko were in the place of the two characters.

"…kashi. Akashi."

Akashi finally snapped out of his trance to see that Midorima was calling him. "What is it, Shintaro?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm worried about you, but are you alright? You aren't dizzy, are you?" He asked. He was a tsundere, but he was still concerned though he'd never admit it.

"I'm fine."

"Aka-chin, you don't seem like the usual you," Murasakibara added. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing."

"If you say so."

Ten minutes later, they heard a splash come from the opposite direction of the two idiots (Aomine and Kise). Akashi looked around, but he couldn't find Kuroko.

"Tetsuya?" he asked.

He got no response.

"Tetsuya!"

Akashi moved as quickly as he could to where he last saw Kuroko. He located him underwater. Kuroko was unconscious. Akashi wrapped a towel around Kuroko's waist and his own then lifted Kuroko out.

"Shintaro, get a cold compress from the staff."

"On it," he said, standing up.

"I'll bring him to the room."

Midorima nodded.

Akashi brought Kuroko to the changing room. He was relieved that the boy was safe. Akashi dressed him in a yukata, trying his best to not look at Kuroko's bare skin. Sure, he wanted to look, but he was still respectful. He picked up the boy and carried him back to their room.

In the hallway, they ran into Kagami. The taller redhead looked alarmed once he saw Kuroko.

"Kuroko!" He looked to Akashi. "What happened?" he asked, eyes full of concern.

"He fainted in the bath. Don't worry. He'll be alright. But I suggest you tell Aida-san."

Kagami nodded then ran toward the recreation room.

Akashi went back to the room the Generation of Miracles were sharing then lay Kuroko on his futon after moving his laptop. When Midorima came in with the compress, he gave it to Akashi then left. Akashi brushed Kuroko's bangs from his forehead then put the compress on him. Kuroko looked so at ease like there was nothing in the world to worry about. Meanwhile, Akashi couldn't control his heart beat.

 _You're too unguarded, Tetsuya,_ he thought.


	2. Secret

Chapter Two

In the recreation room, the basketball teams were having a table tennis tournament. The tournament would last for three nights, but the penalty would last until the camp was over. The penalty was that the losers had to be the winners' slaves until the next match. The champion of the tournament would get to keep their slaves for an extra two days. There would be three matches tonight: Seirin vs. Shutoku, Kaijo vs. Touo, and Yosen vs. Rakuzan.

Kagami ran into the room. "COACH!" he yelled.

Riko was refereeing the match between Kaijo and Touo. They'd only started now because their aces had just joined them. "Bakagami! Where have you been? Go join the rest of the team. They're deciding which two are gonna play for our match. Where's Kuroko?"

"That's what I was gonna tell you. He's unconscious. He fainted in the bath."

"What?! Where is he?!" she asked, worriedly.

"Akashi's taking care of him."

"Eh? Akashi?"

"Uh, yeah," Kagami said. Akashi seemed like a psycho to Kagami, but he was sure Kuroko was safe with him. "I ran into him in the hallway. He was carrying Kuroko to their room."

On the other hand, Riko was inwardly fangirling. She was _quite_ the fujoshi. She could picture the scene unfolding: Akashi carrying Kuroko bridal style, them alone in a dark room, Akashi caring for Kuroko as he was knocked out. She actually kind of shipped them, but she also kind of shipped the shadow with Kagami, but, to her, Kagami would also be good with Aomine. Let's just say she shipped a lot of ships, and if any of them were to come true, she'd support it.

"Let him rest. He'll be fine," she said with a smile. _If Akashi's with him, he'll be fine,_ she thought.

"Alright. What about the tournament?"

"We'll win against Shutoku with the members we have now."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Shutoku's coach, Nakatani, said.

"Bring it on, Ma-boy!" Kagetora said, interrupting. "My bet's on Seirin!"

Riko sighed at her dad's idiocy.

"Uh, can we continue now?" Kise asked.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry," Riko said. She blew her whistle, signaling the next round.

~The Author~

Akashi leaned against the wall. He unlocked his phone. He decided to look online to see if what Kuroko was writing was on there. He opened up his internet browser and typed _Midnight by Kage no Kyou_ in the search bar. He found what he was looking for immediately on some site that was unfamiliar to him called FanFiction. He clicked on the link then started reading.

 _It was midnight when it all began…_

 _I was simply sitting in my room, reading a book. It was a book about legends. Of course, being the skeptical one that I am, I thought there was no way this could be true and that this was only fiction, but that's where I went wrong. I was on a part in the book that talked about a spirit that supposedly came out of the book. There was even a chant written in here to summon it._

 _I thought to myself that the author of this book had to be fucking with me. Like, come on, do you seriously expect me to believe this? I read the chant out loud to demonstrate that I was not scared of this shit._

 _"Take over, Desire  
When situations are dire  
The toll will be paid  
With this masquerade  
As sweet as a carnation  
Will come this temptation  
With pain will come pleasure  
That will become treasure  
Like taking an aphrodisiac  
For me, there is no going back  
Like swift attacks  
Will come your climax  
Given to you by a silver spoon  
Is this sin you commit under the moon  
Hidden from all light  
It will come at midnight  
With no one else can I make do  
With all my strength, I summon you!"_

 _I waited a few moments, but nothing happened. I laughed at myself. I read that all dramatically too! I'm such an idiot. But I have to say that acting that out was pretty fun._

 _There was a knock on the door. My mom poked her head in._

 _"Are you on the phone with someone, sweetheart?"_

 _"Haha, no. I was just acting something out," I said with a sheepish smile._

 _"Alright. Don't be too loud. Your father and I are going to bed now."_

 _"Okay, goodnight."_

 _"Night. I love you." She closed the door._

 _I burst out in laughter once I knew she was out of earshot. There have been so many instances like that that Mom probably thinks I'm a real nutjob. I really am an idiot._

 _I checked the clock. It was 10:26. Well, I guess I should go to bed. There is school tomorrow. I turned out the lights then collapsed onto my bed._

 _—An hour and thirty-four minutes later—_

 _There was something on me. Something smooth and soft on my mouth. Wait, what?! I opened my eyes to find a man on top of me. KISSING ME?! I jolted up and backed away from him as much as I could until I was trapped by the walls._

 _"W-Who are you and why are you in m-my room?" I asked._

 _"You're the one who summoned me, aren't you?" he said. I got a better look at him. He was slender but muscular. He was also taller than me but not by much. He looked like he could be a model. He had amber eyes and shaggy, brown hair with pale skin. But why was he half naked?!_

 _"What do you mean 'summoned you'?"_

 _"You said the chant, didn't you?"_

 _THAT WAS REAL? "Oh, yeah… I guess I did," I answered, lamely._

 _"I'm yours then." He approached me then lifted me up like I weighed nothing more than a feather. He placed me on top of him and kissed me. I felt my face go red._

 _What's happening?! What is this madness?!_

 _I pushed him away. I panted. My heart was beating erratically. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on for a second. Why are you kissing me?"_

 _"Didn't you read the description?"_

 _"What description?"_

 _He sighed then picked up the book of legends that was on my desk. He opened it to the page before the chant._

 _"I'm the spirit in here," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "My family is the Spirits of the Seven Deadly Sins. There were other chants in the book for other things. If you'd said any of the other ones, one of my brothers might have come out, but you've said mine—Lust." He put the book back on the desk then pinned me to the bed. He sucked on my neck._

 _"Aaannngghh!" Oh, god. What just came out of my mouth? "W-wait, so am I like… mnnnnhh… p-permanently b-bound… nnngghh… to y-you or s-something?" I said through my panting. My body felt hot._

 _"You are. But I'll only come out once midnight strikes." He unbuttoned my shirt. "The moment you said my chant, another spirit had come to take over while I'm with you."_

 _He attacked my lips. His hands went to my chest. He rubbed my nipples. I whimpered. Blood went down to my dick. He looked down._

 _"Enjoying, huh?"_

 _He took my pants off then took off his own. He was so fucking big. "W-wait! N-no…"_

 _He put my legs over his shoulders. He rubbed my erection fast._

 _"Nnnnnggghhh!" I tried to catch my breath, but it just wasn't working. I was gonna cum soon. "Stop!"_

 _"Are you sure you want me to?" he said, playfully._

 _He grazed against the tip of my dick with his nail. "Mmnnngghhh!" I shut my eyes. I'm pretty sure I was shaking already. Then I felt something go up my ass. I felt tears form in my eyes._

 _"Relax, relax. It's just a finger. I need to prepare you first." He took it out and thrusted it back in, earning a cry from me. He did it several times then added another finger. It hurt at first but it eventually felt so good. He reached deep inside of me._

 _"Nnnnggghhhh! More!" I moaned. "I'm gonna—"_

 _I bucked my hips forward. He reached deeper into me and hit my sweet spot. My body was hot. Moaning, I came into the hand that stroked me. He smiled._

 _"So shall I put it in now?" he asked._

Akashi felt his face heating up. Kuroko really did write good smut if it was enough to make Akashi blush. He exited his browser and stared at the innocent face that wrote it.

Kuroko stirred, making the emperor sit up straight. Really, shadow was the only one who could elicit such reactions from him. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up. The compress fell off of his head. Seirin's shadow had a major headache.

"Good morning, Tetsuya," Akashi said. "Well, it isn't morning anymore."

"Ah, Akashi-kun," he said, turning to face him. "What happened?"

"You fainted in the bath."

"Oh, okay. Thank you for taking care of me. Where are the others?"

"They're in the rec room, having a table tennis tournament."

"Ah, I see."

"Do you want to go? Or would you rather stay here? Are you still dizzy?"

"I'm okay. I want to go."

"Alright then." Akashi tried not to stare at Kuroko's skin since his yukata was slipping off his shoulder, and he hadn't noticed it yet. Akashi stood up then helped Kuroko up. The yukata exposed his chest. Akashi really should have put it on better. Kuroko was about to walk out when Akashi grabbed his wrist.

Kuroko looked at him with his blue eyes that seemed to bore into his soul. "What is it?"

Akashi hesitated, wondering if he should really tell him. He was snooping after all. But he wanted to be truthful. "I apologize. You left your laptop open, and I saw what was on it," he said, his face going red. It wasn't that noticeable because the room was dim, but it didn't go unnoticed by Kuroko.

Kuroko was silent. Akashi couldn't read his expression. A few minutes later, an ominous aura surrounded him, and even Akashi had to back up. He didn't know the shadow could be so scary. If he could show that kind of pressure during basketball, there's no telling what would happen.

He approached Akashi. The redhead was unnerved by this new side of the shadow so he backed up, but Kuroko kept advancing until Akashi was backed up against the wall. There was nowhere to evade. Akashi could've sworn Kuroko was in some sort of zone.

He finally spoke up. "It was just you, right, Akashi-kun?" he said, darkly. Kuroko looked up at Akashi.

Akashi nodded.

"You're not to tell a soul."

"I won't."

Kuroko sighed, his brooding aura disappearing. "Good."

"You always exceed my expectations, Tetsuya," Akashi said with a smile. He kind of liked the scary yandere Kuroko. "I have to admit I did not see that coming. Do you… have experience with that sort of thing?"

"Of course not. It's purely imaginative."

"I see." Inside, Akashi was rejoicing with glee that his Tetsuya was still somewhat pure.

Kuroko may have acted like he was irritated, but he was not in any way. He just didn't want his secret to get out. He was actually pretty embarrassed that Akashi had read his story, though he didn't show it. He thought it was kind of cute how he reacted to it.

They stood there in awkward silence for a few minutes.

"Shall we join the others?" Akashi suggested. He was begging for a subject change even though he was the one who brought up their previous one.

"Let's," Kuroko answered. "Akashi-kun, that will be our little secret, okay?"

Akashi nodded.

"Okay, let's go," the shadow said. He turned to walk to the door, but his head throbbed, and he tripped on a pillow.

Akashi caught him before he could fall over. "Are you sure you aren't dizzy? Maybe you should lie down, Tetsuya." The way the smaller boy fit in his arms pleased the redhead.

"I'm completely fine."

"If you say so." Akashi turned Kuroko around so he was facing him. The yukata was still on sloppily, revealing the boy's skin. Akashi stared at him.

"What is it now, Akashi-kun?" he asked.

The way the redhead stared at him with his entrancing heterochromatic eyes made Kuroko's heart rate speed up. He always seemed to get lost in them.

"Have you not noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Akashi sighed. "I'm not letting you go out yet." Even though he was a smut author, it was so ironic how Kuroko was so oblivious to his own seductive charm that Akashi found it amazing.

"And why is that?"

The emperor got behind the shadow before he could blink. "Your yukata's messed up," he said. The vibrations of his voice gave Kuroko shivers. Akashi untied the belt.

"W-Wait, Akashi-kun! I-I'm not wearing anything un—"

"I'm aware. Who do you think dressed you when you knocked out?"

Kuroko turned red.

"Relax, I didn't look, and no one else saw," Akashi said, fixing Kuroko's yukata. He wrapped it tightly around the boy's body so it wouldn't slip off again then tied the belt around his hips. "There. That's better," he said, patting him on the head.

"T-Thank you."

"You're welcome." Akashi walked ahead of him. "Now, let's get to that tournament. I heard there were penalties. I'd like to see what they are." He had a smirk on his face.

 _You're such a sadist, Akashi-kun,_ Kuroko thought.

And so the two walked out of their room and to rec room where the rest of their friends were.


	3. Operation AkaKuro

(A/N: Yay! I got to update once more before spring break ends! Thanks for those who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!)

* * *

Chapter Three

When Akashi and Kuroko walked into the recreation room, the Kaijo and Touo match had just finished with Kaijo as the victors. The Kaijo players were as joyful as can be while the Touo players had defeated looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry!" Sakurai yelled, bowing to a complete ninety-degree angle several times.

Aomine scowled. "Quit it with the apologizing! You didn't do anything!"

"I'm sorry for being alive!"

"Sakurai, it wasn't your fault," Imayoshi said with a sigh. "If anything, it was mine and Aomine's."

Hyuuga, just by seeing the brunette apologizing, was irritated. "Yo, Apologetic Mushroom! Shut up!"

"Oh, no. He's entered clutch mode," Izuki said. "Well, that's actually kinda good since he's playing the next match."

Meanwhile, with Kaijo, Kise was laughing with glee and clapping his hands like the idiot he was.

"Oi, Kise, calm down. Don't rub salt in the wound," Kasamatsu scolded, hitting him on the head. He felt a little sympathetic toward them.

Momoi sighed. "Alright, then! Kaijo players, please choose your slaves! Remember that managers and coaches do not count!" she announced.

Moriyama was dismayed. He totally wanted to pick Momoi.

"I WANT AOMINECCHI!" Kise yelled.

"Damn it, Kise! I knew it was coming!" the tanned player said, walking to Kise, irritatedly.

"Teehee!" he said with a victory sign. He jumped on the blue-haired boy's back and clung to him.

It caught Aomine by surprise, but he didn't fall over or anything. He instinctively put his hands under his legs to support him so they wouldn't fall over. "Agh, what the fuck, Kise?"

"I want a piggyback ride!" he ordered, childishly.

Touo's ace glowered at him. "Fine. But you're damn heavy."

"So mean! I'm lighter than you!"

"How do you know my weight?"

"I asked Momocchi," the cheery Kaijo ace said with a grin. "Go around the room for a victory parade, my trusty steed!"

"I'm not a fucking horse!"

"Then go onward, my trusty Aominecchi!"

"Ugh, fine. It's slightly better."

Everyone sighed at their idiocy. The other Miracles wondered how they dealt with them for three years.

Well, Kagami was kind of jealous of Kise. He didn't know why, but he was super irritated by the familiarity he had with Aomine. He wished Seirin would've played Touo first so he could've enslaved his rival.

"Uh… I guess, I'll take Imayoshi-san then," Kasamatsu said, awkwardly.

"This'll be a good chance to get to know each other, right, Kasamatsu-san?" Imayoshi said with that shady smile of his.

"Um, I guess so."

"I don't learry know who to pick," Hayakawa said, scratching the back of his head. "Um… Wakamatsu-san?"

"Here," the blond said, walking to the fast-speaking player.

"I'll go with Sakurai-kun then," Moriyama said.

"I'm sorry!" he said.

"Eh? Why?"

"I'm sorry!"

"But you haven't done anything."

"I'm sorry!"

"Um… Is he always like this?" he asked, uneasily.

"Yeah…" Imayoshi said.

"Leave him be," Aomine said as he passed by them on Kise's parade. "He'll stop… maybe." Then he started walking away again because Kise urged him on.

Moriyama chuckled nervously. "Oh… Okay…"

"I'll be with Susa-san then," Kobori said.

The said player nodded in agreement.

"Um… There's no one left for me," Nakamura said.

"I'll be with you then, Nakamura-kun," Momoi said.

"I thought managers didn't count, though."

She smiled. "We don't, but there's no one else so I'll do it. It'd suck if you were the only one who didn't get a slave."

"O-Okay. Thanks," he said, a faint pink dusted on his cheeks.

"Nooooooooo! If only I'd been the last one to choose!" Moriyama yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Sakurai yelled.

"Alright! The next match will be Seirin vs. Shutoku!" Riko announced.

"Well, I better get to my team," Kuroko said, excusing himself from Akashi's company.

The shadow walked to the other Seirin members. From what he could tell from his teammates excited chatter, they were hyped up about the chance to get Midorima as a servant.

"So who's playing?" Kuroko asked.

"Hyuuga-senpai and Kiyoshi-senpai," Kagami answered.

"Ah, okay. When are we getting a chance to play?"

"Probably in a later match." Kagami was happy to see that Kuroko was better. "Hey, I heard you fainted from Akashi. You doing okay?"

"I'm fine, Kagami-kun. No need to worry."

"Okay…" he said, skeptically.

Hyuuga and Kiyoshi walked to the table on the side opposite of Midorima and Takao.

"Let's go!" Hyuuga said, clutch mode fully effective.

Kiyoshi smiled. "Let's have some fun!"

"Heh," Midorima said with a smirk. "Don't think this will be easy." He looked so ridiculous in his lucky item that it was hard for Seirin to take him seriously.

"Let's win this, Shin-chan!" Takao said, nudging him with a grin. "You have your lucky item, after all." He started snickering. Midorima's lucky item of the day was Hello Kitty ears. They even had a bow!

"Takao, shut up. I follow fate, and fate as spoken and said that I should wear cat ears."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop laughing," he said, smiling.

"Alright. Let's get started," Araki, Yosen's coach, said. "Rock, paper, scissors for the serve."

Hyuuga and Midorima did as she said. The carrot won, of course. Because he "follows fate."

"Are both sides ready?" the female coach asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Takao said.

"We're good here too," Kiyoshi said.

She nodded then blew her whistle. "Match start!"

Once Midorima served, they rallied the ball at unreal speeds. But Hyuuga prided himself in his ping pong skills. He may not have Takao's hawk eye, but he was very experienced with table tennis.

Seirin and Shutoku players both cheered for their respective sides. The Miyaji brothers were yelling something along the lines that if they didn't win, they'd have pineapples thrown at them. Izuki was making puns while the rest of Seirin was yelling at their team's founders to win.

Akashi had joined his team, but he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering to Kuroko. He did look very seductive. Especially since the emperor was the only one who knew he had nothing on underneath. But the thing the redhead liked the most was how the shadow smiled so brightly when cheering for his teammates. It was hypnotic.

Mibuchi noticed how Akashi had spaced out.

"Sei-chan?" he called.

When he didn't get a response, he knew something was up. He followed Akashi's gaze to the original Phantom Sixth Man. He gasped.

"What's wrong, Reo-nee?" Hayama asked.

"Sei-chan…"

"Eh? Akashi?" Hayama stared at the redhead whose mind was still elsewhere. "What happened to him?"

Mibuchi quickly huddled together the Rakuzan members, excluding Akashi.

"Huh? What's happening?" Nebuya asked. For once he wasn't stuffing his face.

"Is something wrong?" Mayuzumi asked.

"I assume you three have enough sense to not tell Sei-chan what I'm about to tell you," Mibuchi said. "Look at him right now."

The Uncrowned Kings and Mayuzumi snuck glances at him, trying to figure out what seemed so unusual about their captain. Well, for one he was _smiling._

"He looks really happy," Nebuya said.

"And really distracted," Hayama added.

"He keeps staring at Seirin," Mayuzumi pointed out.

"That's just it!" Mibuchi said. "He's happy, distracted, and staring at Seirin. Not all of Seirin but only a _certain individual_ in Seirin. By a 'certain individual,' I mean Kuroko Tetsuya, Seirin's shadow. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"Ah, I see," Mayuzumi said, smiling. Usually, he'd be super apathetic and wouldn't really care, but this was _the emperor_ they were talking about.

"I don't get it," Nebuya said, dumbly.

"I don't either," Hayama said.

"Sei-chan's in love!"

"Eh?!" Nebuya said. If he were eating at the moment, he'd probably spit out what he just ate.

Hayama gasped. "With Kuroko-san?!"

"Obviously," Mayuzumi said. "That kid has probably been attracting Akashi's eyes since middle school."

"Which is why we need to help Sei-chan with his first love!" Mibuchi said, smiling. "We'll do little things throughout the rest of the week to try to get them alone together like trapping them in a closet or something. Of course, we won't tell Akashi what we're planning, though. So are you guys in?"

They nodded.

"Alright. Operation AkaKuro: Start!"


	4. Point Guards and Power Forwards

(A/N: Haha, I'm so screwed because I did this instead of my project that's due tomorrow. XD Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! The bolded words are spoken in English.)

* * *

Chapter Four

Kiyoshi had on that grin that Hyuuga thought was stupid, but Hyuuga was smiling too. They stood triumphant while Midorima and Takao were defeated.

"Yo, idiot kohais! Are you ready for the pineapples?!" Miyaji Yuya said.

"Kimura, do you have any on you?" Miyaji Kiyoshi said. "You two better be ready for punishment!"

But Midorima was too in shock that his luck didn't work to care.

"No! Why?! I had my lucky item and everything. Why didn't it work?" A sudden realization hit him. "What are your signs?!" he asked, frantically.

Hyuuga was so weirded out by the green-haired boy, but he just decided to answer him. "Taurus."

"Gemini," Kiyoshi said.

"That was it! I was to watch out for Gemini today!" Midorima was genuinely horrified. "PLEASE DO NOT PICK ME! MY LUCK WILL BE TAINTED FOREVER!"

"Calm down, Shin-chan," Takao said, patting his back in an attempt to soothe him. "It's just ping pong."

Kise bursted out in laughter. "Poor Midorimacchi!"

"YOU GET AWAY TOO!" the carrot yelled upon remembering that Kise was Gemini.

Seirin laughed nervously, slightly concerned for Midorima.

"Don't worry. I won't pick you," Kiyoshi said to try to calm the boy. He felt bad for him. "I pick Otsubo-san. We play the same position, after all."

"Alright, then," Shutoku's former captain said, joining his fellow center. "Sorry about him," he said, glancing at Midorima. "He's quite the _unique_ one."

"Aren't all the Miracles?"

"That is true."

Hyuuga looked for the Shutoku player that seemed the most mellow. "Kimura-san."

Kimura joined Seirin's captain silently.

"So… I hear you're fond of pineapples?" Hyuuga said, awkwardly. He really didn't know what to do in situations like these.

Kimura cracked a smile at that.

"I CALL MIDORIMA!" Kagami yelled. He wanted any chance he could get to make one of the Generation of Miracles his slave. He mostly wanted Aomine, but he wouldn't get a chance now since he lost against Kise.

Midorima groaned.

"Good luck, Shin-chan!" Takao said, as his partner walked to his master.

Kuroko walked in front of the hawk-eyed boy. "I choose you, Takao-kun," he said with the straightest face ever.

"Ah, alright!" Takao put his arm around the shadow's shoulder and laughed.

When Akashi saw this, he was actually kind of jealous. Though he'd never admit it. Well, he'd either want to become Kuroko's slave or enslave Kuroko.

There were two Shutoku members left. Izuki had wanted Takao, but Kuroko had chosen him already. "Miyaji-san."

"Which one?" the two brothers said.

"Oh, there's two of you! Double trouble, eh?" Izuki said with a smile. "I pick Miyaji Kiyoshi-san."

"Alright," the older Miyaji said. "You don't seem that bad."

"Ugh, just wait till he annoys you with his puns," Hyuuga said as a warning.

"Who picks the Miyaji Yuya-san then?" Koganei asked. "There's six of us left."

"I'm fine without one," Tsuchida said.

The cat-faced player looked to his partner in crime. "Mitobe's asking if you guys want him," he said, turning to Furihata, Kawahara, Fukuda. "If not, Mitobe and I can share."

"Please don't talk about me like I'm an object," the younger Miyaji said.

"Ah, sorry, Yuya-kun," Koganei said. "Can I call you that to distinguish from your brother?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Okay, then. Do you kohais want to take Yuya-kun with you?"

The three discussed. "We've decided that you and Mitobe-senpai can take him."

"Alright, then." Koganei looked to the Shutoku player. "Nice to meet you, Yuya-kun, says Mitobe."

Yuya was confused. He didn't know why Mitobe didn't just talk, but he shrugged it off and decided not to question. "Same here." _Eh, these guys seem okay._

Alex popped up behind the three freshmen and put her arms around their shoulders. "Well, like Satsuki-chan said, it'd suck if you guys didn't get slaves too. So I'll be doing it," she said with a smile. **"No saying no."**

"Ah, o-okay. Thank you very much!" they said.

"Next match is Rakuzan vs. Yosen!" Momoi announced. "You have five minutes to discuss your players!"

Rakuzan gathered. Akashi turned to his team. "Mayuzumi, you're playing with me."

"Got it," he answered.

Mibuchi mouthed, 'You have to win so we can get Sei-chan and Kuroko-kun together!'

The silver-haired teen shot him a thumbs up before joining Akashi at the table. Across from them were Murasakibara and Himuro.

"Well, let's try our best," Himuro said, good-naturedly.

"We'll crush you," Murasakibara said.

"I doubt you can, Atsushi," Akashi said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"As threatening as ever, eh, Akashi?" Mayuzumi said, glancing at his kohai.

"Okay! Rock, paper scissors!" Momoi said, excitedly.

Himuro and Akashi stepped up. Akashi won the serve with scissors.

The pink-haired manager blew her whistle. "Start!"

Kuroko watched as the redhead played. He looked sparkly. It was as if everything he did was dazzling. He found it intriguing. The somewhat sadistic emperor, who'd been caught blushing earlier, looked so suave. Kuroko had no idea the captain could be so flustered. The shadow remembered how Akashi's arms felt around him as he fixed his yukata. He got the chills as he reminisced the moment they shared in the room.

Mibuchi glanced at the shadow. He was in the same state Akashi was in when he watched Kuroko cheer: smiley and distracted. _He likes him!_

Hayama glanced at the Seirin player then at Mibuchi. He knew from Mibuchi's smile that Akashi really had a chance. Who knows? Maybe their operation would go smoother than they thought.

"Go, Akashi! Mayuzumi!" Nebuya cheered. They'd have to win the table tennis tournament if they wanted to give Akashi the chance to enslave his loved one. But, knowing Akashi, it'd be a reality.

Izuki and Takao noticed Rakuzan's Uncrowned Kings acting strangely (watching Kuroko not so subtly) due to their Eagle and Hawk Eye. So they decided to go nearer to investigate. They bumped into each other on the way.

"Uh… Izuki-san, did we have the same idea?" Takao asked.

"That the Uncrowned Kings were acting a little suspicious?"

"Yeup."

"Shall we confront them?" Izuki suggested.

Takao nodded.

And so the two walked over to the Rakuzan members.

Izuki tapped Mibuchi's shoulder. "Uh, hi, Mibuchi-san. Takao-kun and I were wondering if something was wrong. We couldn't help but notice that you three were staring at Kuroko for a while."

 _Shoot, we blew it,_ they thought.

"Nothing's wrong!" Hayama said, with a smile.

Mibuchi looked on in horror. _Kotaro, that's such an obvious mistake!_ His look did not go unnoticed by the two point guards.

"Hayama-san, are you kidding us?" Takao asked. "When you say it like that, it really does sound like something's wrong."

"Fine, we'll fess up," Mibuchi said. "But you're not allowed to tell Sei-chan or Kuroko-kun!" He gave them a stern look.

"O-Okay," Izuki said.

"Yessir!" Takao answered.

"Have you seen the way they look at each other?"

The two boys looked toward Kuroko who was actually smiling. His face seemed to light up as he watched Akashi.

"Sei-chan was looking at Kuroko-kun in the same way during your match."

"They like each other!" Hayama said.

Nebuya grunted in agreement. "A lot."

"Ah, I see what's going on," Izuki said. "You wanna get them together."

"Exactly," Mibuchi said.

"I can actually see that happening," Takao added. "They'd look really good together."

"Right?!" he said, happily. "So Operation AkaKuro is basically us trying to isolate them and put them in awkward situations so they spend more time alone together."

"Count me in!" Izuki said.

Takao grinned. "Same here!"

"Izuki-kun, you make sure Seirin doesn't lose until the final round. Our plan is to have Seirin face Rakuzan. It doesn't matter who wins the tournament because I'm sure Sei-chan will pick Kuroko-kun, and Kuroko-kun will pick Sei-chan. It'll turn out well as long as we both get to the final round," Mibuchi explained.

"Got it."

"Takao-kun, since you're Kuroko-kun's slave, can you bring up Akashi and check out his reactions?"

"Aye, aye, sir!" he said, saluting.

"Awesome!"

"This'll be great!" Hayama said.

"Yeah," Nebuya said. "It'll be nice to actually see Akashi happy."

"Kuroko, too," Izuki said, smiling. He really needed something nice for once.

"Well, we'll be going back over there," Takao said. "Kuroko's really observant so my not being there would arouse suspicion."

"Yes, yes. Go," Mibuchi said with a smile and a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Kagami had been sucked into the antics of Aomine, Kise, and Midorima.

Well, he'd chose Midorima so he had to stick with him, but then Kise came along to be an annoyance. He decided that it was the greatest idea ever to come terrify Midorima on the day he was supposed to avoid Geminis. They were currently running around the room, Kise running after Midorima while he desperately tried to escape, yelling stuff about his luck and horoscopes and whatnot while Aomine and Kagami stood by, watching their idiocy.

"Midorimacchi!" Kise yelled, chasing the carrot.

"No! Get away, idiot! I hope divine retribution comes upon you, nanodayo!"

"Haha…" Kagami laughed, nervously. Midorima's uneasy look kind of made Kagami worry. "Is he gonna be alright?"

"I guess," Aomine answered.

Kagami didn't know why, but his heart beat sped up. Just being near Aomine made his body react this way. He had no explanation for the annoyance he felt with Kise earlier when he picked Aomine as his slave either. He knew Kise was just being his normal self, but he was just really, really irritated. Sure, he knew Aomine was pretty good-looking with his tanned skin and deep, midnight blue hair and eyes.

 _Wait, what am I saying?_ the redhead thought, his face heating up. _It's just Aomine. We've played street ball together tons of times. How he looks shouldn't be anything new. What's wrong with me?_ He shook his head to disperse his weird thoughts and stared at the floor.

Then he felt a hand on his forehead. He looked up to find deep blue looking him in the eyes.

"Oi, do you have a fever? Your face feels warm," Touo's ace said. He was suddenly like four inches away from Kagami's face.

The redhead jerked back, his heart beat turning erratic again. "I-I'm f-fine." _Why the fuck am I stuttering?_

"Are you sure?" he asked, actually concerned. "I swear your face just turned more red. Almost like your hair."

"Y-Yeah."

"You better not be sick. Practice tomorrow would suck if you weren't there."

And Kagami was flustered again. Ahomine didn't know how much of an effect he had on our Bakagami. The redhead saw his mentor pass by. He wanted to ask if she knew what was happening to him.

"Hey, I just remembered I needed to do something. I'll be back," Kagami said.

Aomine nodded. "Don't pass out like Tetsu did."

"Ahomine! I'm not gonna pass out," Seirin's ace answered with a smile before going after Alex.

Aomine was struck as he watched him walk away. He wouldn't admit it, but he thought Kagami's smile was really adorable.

 **"Alex!"** Kagami yelled.

She turned around. **"Ah, what's up, Taiga?"** the blonde said with a smile.

 **"I, uh, wanted to ask you something."**

 **"Okay, what is it?"**

 **"Am I sick?"**

 **"Why do you ask that?"**

 **"I don't know. I've been feeling weird. The weird feeling's gone right now, but it was there earlier."**

 **"What was the 'weird feeling'?"** she asked, worried. It'd be bad if he really was sick.

 **"My face gets hot, and my heart starts beating so fast that it hurts even when I'm not playing basketball or something. It happened just a few moments ago."**

Alex smiled, knowingly. **"Think about the times that it's happened. Who were the people that were usually around when it occurred?"**

Kagami thought for a bit before answering. **"Kuroko, Aomine, sometimes Kise, and sometimes Momoi. Well, when it happened earlier, Kise, Momoi, and Kuroko weren't around."**

The blonde tried her best to hide a giggle. _So it's Aomine, eh?_ She slapped him on the back. **"You'll be just fine."**

 **"So I'm not sick or anything?"**

 **"Nope."**

 **"Thank god."** Kagami smiled. **"I didn't wanna miss everything tomorrow."**

Alex laughed. **"You're such a basketball junkie!"**

 **"So are you!"**

 **"True, true."**

 **"Oh, yeah. Should I do something to help out Midorima? Kise hasn't stopped tormenting him yet,"** Kagami said, pointing at the carrot and the copycat who were still running around the room, playing their game of cat and mouse.

 **"Nah, I think they've got it covered."** She pointed at Kasamatsu, who'd finally noticed what his idiot kohai was doing to his ex-teammate.

"Kise!" Kasamatsu yelled, approaching him with a dark aura.

The copycat stopped in his tracks. "Ah, senpai!"

"Stop that! You've tortured him enough!" the blue-eyed captain said, smacking Kise.

"Ow!"

"What are you, five? Grow up. You're not a kid anymore," he said, sternly.

"Yes, senpai," Kise said with a pout.

Kasamatsu had to say that now that he'd graduated and was no longer at Kaijo, he'd miss seeing Kise everyday even if he was annoying at times. But he was also annoyingly cute.


	5. Group Chats and Closets

(A/N: I'm just gonna say straight up that I had a crappy day today. Updating was the only thing I could do as a distraction. But I was planning to anyway because it's AkaKuro Day. Sorry for starting this out kinda pathetically. Happy AkaKuro Day! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :D)

* * *

Chapter Five

Rakuzan won, obviously. Akashi, being Akashi, also had excellent table tennis skills. Mayuzumi was really good too. He smiled towards the Uncrowned Kings with a look that said, 'Mission accomplished!'

"Phase One: Complete," Mibuchi said, grinning.

"Woohoo!" Hayama cheered.

Nebuya had a triumphant smile.

"Atsushi," Akashi said.

The purple giant already knew that the emperor meant for him to be his slave. "'Kay, Aka-chin," he said, walking to his former captain's side.

Then they went looking for Kuroko. It wasn't hard to find him because he was with the rowdy group consisting of Kagami, Aomine, Kise, Kasamatsu, Midorima, Takao, and Momoi. Well, it wouldn't take long for Akashi to locate Kuroko, anyway, since he had some sort of Kuroko radar.

"Hmm… I pick Himuro-san," Mayuzumi said.

"Hello, Mayuzumi-san. That was a good game. I didn't know you were so good at ping pong," Himuro said, polite as always.

"Thanks. I happen to be good at most useless things," Mayuzumi said with a small laugh.

"I choose Liu-kun," Mibuchi said, happily.

Wei Liu silently made his way to Rakuzan's shooting guard.

"Well, you're quiet."

"I don't see a need to talk," he said, apathetically, which reminded him of Mayuzumi.

Hayama smiled. "Fukui-kun! I choose you!" he said, imitating Pokemon.

Fukui smiled, getting the reference. "I like how you think, kid."

"Okamura, I guess you're with me then," Nebuya said.

 _This is kinda sad that two monkeys were paired together,_ Okamura thought.

"Okamura, if you're thinking you both are monkeys, you're wrong. Nebuya-san isn't, you gorilla," Liu said.

Fukui burst out laughing as the former Yosen captain sunk into a depression.

Nebuya was just confused. "What just happened?"

Hayama shrugged.

Since Akashi had gone to Miracles and Kuroko, and he wasn't looking at them anymore, Mibuchi gathered the Rakuzan members together once more so they could discuss what they would do next. While they were huddled up, Yosen had gone back to whatever they were doing before they started the tournament since they really weren't needed by their 'masters.'

However, Himuro couldn't help but overhear little snippets of what Rakuzan was talking about. He'd heard 'Sei-chan' and 'Kuroko-kun' and 'lock in a closet' and 'isolate.' They way they whispered sounded pretty shady, too. _Are they planning a murder?_ he thought. _I should probably do something._

He tapped Hayama on the shoulder. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear some things you guys were talking about. You aren't doing anything necessarily bad, are you?" he asked.

"Not unless getting Akashi and Kuroko-san together is bad," they boy said.

"Kotaro! You just blew our cover again!" Mibuchi scolded.

"Oopsies," he said with a sheepish grin.

"Himuro, now you have no choice but to join in on this," Mayuzumi said. "I order you to," he said, using Rakuzan's victory to its advantage.

The American returnee was dragged into the huddle, and Mibuchi explained everything to him.

"So that's how it is. I can't say I know Kuroko-kun enough to come to that conclusion, but I guess it's true," he said, looking at the shadow and the emperor interact. He thought they looked really happy and sparkly, like they brought out the light in each other. "They look awfully cute together."

"Right?" Mayuzumi said, with a smile. "They're my OTP right now."

"I'll do what I can," he promised.

"Awesome."

While Operation AkaKuro was underway, the Generation of Miracles were up to their usual antics.

Kasamatsu had gotten Kise under control so he was no longer tormenting Midorima. He gave the blond a good lecture so he wouldn't do anything else to make his ex-teammates irritated. He had to admit he was a bit scared. His kohai was sharing a room with the _Generation of Miracles,_ which included Akashi. He'd heard about what the redhead did to Kagami with his scissors. Kasamatsu didn't want anything to happen to Kise because he irritated someone like Akashi. And who knows what the others would do if annoyed?

Midorima, on the other hand, was shivering from his trauma. Takao was rubbing his back, trying to soothe him. The raven-haired boy and to admit it was pretty funny, but he was concerned for his partner.

Murasakibara, as usual, was munching on some potato chips. He had a whole bag of snacks that would barely even last him the night. Maybe it'd make it to tomorrow morning, but I doubt that. When he was packing for this trip, he'd brought two suitcases. One was for his clothes and stuff. The other was filled with snacks, and it was the bigger bag. In their dorm room, Himuro gave a nervous laugh when he saw his bags.

Akashi and Kuroko were silently observing the people around them, enjoying each other's company (while looking sparkly, according to the Operation AkaKuro team). Momoi and Riko had caught their attention. Mainly, what they were talking about.

"Ne, Momoi-chan, you said you read Crystalline Epiphany fanfics, right?" Riko asked.

"Yes! I loved the anime! It was so amazing I just had to get into the fanfics," the manager replied.

"Have you heard of Kage no Kyou?" Kuroko perked up at this. Akashi smiled at his reaction.

"OMG! Of course I have! He wrote one of the first fanfics I read for Crystalline Epiphany! He's so good!"

"I know right! He's my favorite! Which of his stories have you read?"

" _Red, Cross, This Is War,_ and _The Doll_ ," Momoi answered.

"Ooooh, those are really good ones," Riko said. "I love how he portrays Hibiki and Kishi! They're so kawaiiiiiiiii!"

"I know right! I love them!"

"Have you read his new one, _Midnight_?" Kuroko smiled. Akashi didn't know Momoi read that kind of stuff.

"No, what's it about?"

"I won't say anything. I think I'd end up spoiling it," the coach said with a grin. "But it's so good! I'll show you later. But let's try not to bother Araki-san and Alex-san. They'll probably be tired by then."

"Okay, cool!"

Kuroko looked ecstatic. He felt all fluffy inside because of the praise he received from his coach and former-manager. Akashi laughed, quietly.

Meanwhile, Aomine and Kagami were having another stupid argument. They were fighting about who was gonna win the next Winter Cup. Both claimed that they would win. Aomine just liked messing with Kagami because he found his reactions cute while the redhead just argued back, trying to ignore his 'sickness.' Alex said he would be fine, but, honestly, he wasn't so sure.

After a while, Kuroko got annoyed with their squabbling and told them to either have a peaceful conversation or shut up so Kagami changed their topic.

"Aomine, you've never been to a real game, have you?" he asked.

"What kind of question is that? All of our games are real, Bakagami!"

"No, like, gone to a game. Watched it. With an American team. I'm sure some of them have played in Japan before."

"Oh, you meant like that," he said, dumbly. "Then no."

"We should go to one sometime. Those games are just amazing."

"Aren't those kinda expensive, though?'

"We'll have to save up then," Kagami said with a smile that sent Aomine's heart into a flutter. "It'd be awesome if you could get a visa to LA. The stadiums there are pretty cool."

"Visa? What's that?" Well, you can't expect Ahomine to know something like that.

And so Kagami explained what a visa was.

While Akashi and Kuroko were people watching, Kuroko yawned. He was pretty tired even after his nap because he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before since he was writing. He really had to finish. People were waiting on it like Momoi and Riko. He decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air to wake up his brain so he could pull his focus together and write. He walked out of the door. Akashi followed him.

"Where are you going, Tetsuya?" he asked (more like demanded).

"For some fresh air," he answered, bluntly.

"I'll come with you."

Kuroko saw no point in arguing with Akashi so he agreed.

This did not go unnoticed by the members of Operation AkaKuro so they quickly set their plan into motion. They'd follow the pair and sort of go on patrol, searching for what they could do to put them in an awkward situation. Himuro, Takao, and Izuki distracted the other Miracles so they wouldn't notice that the redhead and teal-haired boy had left.

There was a bench outside of the resort entrance so the emperor and shadow sat there, enjoying the cool night breeze. It was refreshing. Kuroko was staring at the stars in the sky, shining brightly. Put simply, it was beautiful. Akashi, however, had his eyes focused on the author, thinking the exact same thing.

Kuroko turned to look at Akashi and was surprised that his eyes were on him (and him only). "Akashi-kun?"

They stared into each other's eyes, almost as if the other had bewitched them. Neither of them knew how long they stayed like this, but according to Mibuchi who was watching them from a nearby window, it was ten minutes. Then Akashi finally made his move.

He cupped the smaller boy's cheek. "Tetsuya… I think I—"

They heard footsteps, which made them turn to the entrance. They found a flustered Hyuuga, who had also decided to get some fresh air.

"Ah, sorry. Did I interrupt something?" he asked, nervously pushing up his glasses. Akashi had taken his hand from Kuroko's face, but their proximity was still pretty close to be 'just talking.' And if looks could kill, Akashi's glare would've killed him without a doubt. Not just killed. Probably tortured with scissors till he was screaming in agony then completely mutilated to a point of no recognition. _So much for a breather._

"Hyuuga!" Izuki called. "Get back here! I needed to show you something!" He went out to get the captain.

The shooting guard used this as an excuse to get away. He put an arm around Izuki's shoulders, laughing nervously. "Well, I guess I should go! Come on, Izuki!" He was obviously terrified, which somewhat amused Kuroko.

The two walked back inside with Hyuuga whispering, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Akashi's gonna murder me!"

"I told you not to go out there," Izuki whispered back. Using his eagle eye, he saw Mibuchi looking really frustrated from where he was watching the ship. _Haha… Sorry, Mibuchi-san._

Akashi and Kuroko watched the two Seirin players retreat.

"What were you saying, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked, slightly disappointed that the space between them had grown.

"It's nothing." Akashi stood up. "Shall we go back inside?"

"Sure," Kuroko said.

Mibuchi scrambled to alert the others. They made an Operation AkaKuro group chat earlier.

 _Mibuchi: They're heading back inside!_

 _Takao: Got it_

 _Himuro: We'll be on the lookout_

 _Hayama: What happened outside?_

 _Mayuzumi: Did they kiss?_

 _Mibuchi: Sadly, no_

 _Izuki: They were about to tho_

 _Mibuchi: Junpei-chan interrupted them_

 _Takao: Who's Junpei-chan?_

 _Nebuya: Hyuuga Junpei_

 _Mayuzumi: Seirin's captain_

 _Takao: Oh_

 _Izuki: Sorry, he's really stubborn_

 _Izuki: Couldn't stop him_

 _Himuro: Don't mind :)_

 _Izuki: But Akashi gave him a death glare and he retreated_

 _Takao: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA_

 _Hayama: LOL XD_

 _Mibuchi: Kotaro, they're heading your way_

 _Hayama: I'll do my best!_

Hayama quickly put his phone away and looked up. They were walking in a hallway. He looked for a storage room. He remembered what Mibuchi said about putting them in awkward situations. The muscular player watched his teammate open a bunch of doors.

"Oi," Nebuya said. don't tell me you plan to—"

"Yup! Exactly that!" Hayama said.

Fortunately, he'd found one. And just in time!

Akashi and Kuroko had just turned into the hallway. Hayama acted like he was really excited about something (well, he actually was) so he was hyperactively jumping around. As the leopard and his partner passed by their OTP in front of the storage room door, which they left open, Nebuya pretended to get annoyed by him and shoved Hayama to the side, making him hit Kuroko who fell on Akashi. The redhead had lost his balance thus making him and the shadow fall into the closet. Hayama stumbled and ended up closing the door on them 'accidentally.' The door clicked, signaling the lock.

Kuroko let out a yelp as they fell.

"Kotaro, Eikichi, do you have a death wish?" Akashi said, ominously, through the door.

"Ah, Akashi! Kuroko-san! Sorry!" Hayama yelled, though he was grinning. Hey, Akashi wouldn't know.

"Sorry," Nebuya grunted. Sure, they were both terrified of what Akashi would do to them, but it was worth it for their captains overall happiness.

Hayama tried the door. It was really locked. He couldn't get it open.

"We'll go get the key from the staff or someone," Nebuya said.

They walked away from the closet, fist bumping when they knew they were far enough for Akashi not to know a thing, and went in search of the other Operation AkaKuro members.

 _Hayama: WE DID IT!_

 _Mayuzumi: Did what?_

 _Nebuya: We're on our way to the lobby_

 _Hayama: We'll explain there!_

Operation AkaKuro met in the lobby a few minutes later. When Himuro, Mayuzumi, Takao, and Izuki finally got there, Hayama was jumping around happily again.

"WE DID IT!" he said, joyfully.

"Did what?" Izuki said.

"WE LOCKED THEM IN A STORAGE CLOSET!"

"OMG. Are you serious?" Takao said.

Nebuya nodded with a grunt.

Himuro looked amused. "That actually worked?"

"Well, that's what Reo-nee said we should do so I did it!" Hayama said.

"Kotaro, you're such a brilliant idiot!" Mibuchi said, with a smile.

"Aren't I?"

"The closet's actually locked, though, so we're eventually gonna have to let them out," Nebuya said.

"That can wait," Mayuzumi said. "Let's leave them in there for about an hour to see if anything happens. We'll know if they do anything if Kuroko comes out limping or has any hickeys on him. Remember that messed up hair, disheveled clothes, and swollen lips equals a make out session. All of that stuff plus limping and smiley faces indicates sex," he spelled out for the idiots.

~The Author~

While Hayama and Nebuya were 'getting the storage key,' Akashi and Kuroko were sprawled on the floor of the dark room. Akashi was on the ground while Kuroko was laying atop him with his face in the redhead's chest. Akashi had managed to not hit his head and managed to cushion Kuroko from most of the fall so it was a win-win. Besides the fact that they were locked in a closet.

"Tetsuya, are you okay?"

"Somewhat." When Kuroko realized their position, he blushed. "Sorry." He scrambled to get off of Akashi, but he was stopped. Akashi put his arm around Kuroko's lower back, pushing him back down. "Eh? Akashi-kun?" The smaller boy looked up. Akashi said nothing and just held him close. He didn't meet his eyes either.

This was throwing Kuroko off. His heart was all messed up inside. He couldn't stop its irregular pace. The effect Akashi had on him had to be unhealthy. Kuroko was just unable to calm down. He hoped the redhead wouldn't feel his accelerated heart beat. He could breathe in his natural scent, which he liked. It was sort of like a warm fire that makes you want to get closer. He loved it.

As for Akashi, he simply enjoyed having Kuroko in his arms. He wanted to touch him more (like in his stories), but he wasn't sure if the shadow would be okay with it. Things that regarded Kuroko were the only things that he was ever unsure of. He decided the farthest he'd go was kissing. He wouldn't do anything past that unless Kuroko verbally gave the okay. He wanted to kiss him at least while they were in there, but he didn't know exactly when or how he should it. So he just stayed there, holding the boy.

Had they been there for thirty minutes? Forty-five? Ten? They didn't know. They both seemed to lose track of time. But it didn't matter. Neither of them wanted the moment to end. Then Akashi finally decided to break the silence.

"Tetsuya."

"Yes, Akashi-kun?" he answered, looking up.

Akashi leaned down and pressed his lips to the smaller boy's before he could blink. Kuroko's eyes widened, and he couldn't stop his face from flushing. He was in shock while his mind registered what was happening then his instincts took over. He closed his eyes and kissed back, clutching the front of the emperor's yukata for dear life. Akashi entangled his free hand in the soft, sky blue locks. The intensity of their kiss grew the longer they went on.

Kuroko gasped for air, but as soon as he'd gotten that breath, Akashi slipped his tongue in. He urged Kuroko to fight with him, using his tongue. The shadow accepted the challenge, but it was impossible for him to dominate because Akashi was stronger than him.

The redhead explored his cavern, pulling him flush against him. He wanted more, but he'd have to control himself. Akashi tilted Kuroko's head at an angle that would make it easier to invade his mouth. He opened one of his eyes. The shadow's eyes were squeezed shut since he was trying to fight back, but he couldn't stop the blush from reaching his ears. _Tetsuya's adorable!_ he thought.

Akashi shifted their positions so that he topped Kuroko, still not breaking the kiss. That's when the redhead realized that the shadow's yukata had slipped once more, exposing the crook of Kuroko's neck and his shoulder. Kuroko hadn't noticed yet since he was so focused on the emperor. But, hey, who was he to complain?

"Oi, Akashi! We got the key!" Hayama yelled from the other side.

 _Damn, I should've started earlier,_ Akashi thought, breaking the kiss. Kuroko was still too incapacitated to know what was going on.

"We're unlocking it now," Nebuya said as a warning. If they were in the middle of something, that should've been their signal to stop lest they be caught in the act.

Akashi quickly got off of Kuroko and pulled him to his feet while they heard the key being fit into the lock. The shadow was still in a daze. Akashi tugged the boy's yukata back into place then made sure his own was alright. The door clicked. The emperor gave Kuroko one last peck quickly before the door opened, revealing the Operation AkaKuro members.

"Sei-chan! Are you alright?" Mibuchi said, acting, of course. He knew the redhead was okay. And, by the looks of it, he was more than okay. Something had definitely happened.

"Of course, I am. You should know that it takes more than that to break me," Akashi said.

Mayuzumi, Himuro, Izuki, and Takao undoubtedly saw the signs of a make out session: Kuroko's swollen lips, red face, and stupefied expression and Akashi's smug look. The two point guards and Mayuzumi caught that the yukata showed a bit more of the shadow's skin than it originally did when they were in the recreation room.

"Kuroko, are you okay?" Izuki asked.

He didn't say anything for a bit because he still couldn't register everything in his head. "A little light-headed, but other than that, I'm okay," he answered.

"You're not claustrophobic, are you?" Himuro asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Need an icepack?" Takao offered.

"No, thank you. I'm good."

Mayuzumi smiled. "How about something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Kuroko politely declined. "I'm just gonna sit for a moment." He fell to the floor, sitting W-style.

 _Did they do it?_ Mayuzumi thought. He examined Kuroko. _Nah, he's just a little shaken up. He didn't see it coming, did he?_ He smirked.

Akashi knelt down to meet Kuroko's eyes.

 _KAWAIIIIIIIII!_ Mibuchi thought.

The others watched on in fascination. The emperor would never bow to anyone much less kneel.

Nebuya straight on stared. _Whoa._

 _Just how amazing is Kuroko-san?_ Hayama thought.

Mayuzumi smiled. _This is what love does to a person._

"Shall I take you to the room to rest?" the redhead asked, looking into the pools of pale blue. The shippers' ears perked up at this.

The shadow flushed, thinking of all the 'other' things that could mean. He wanted to, but he'd probably faint a second time if that happened so he declined. "No, thank you, Akashi-kun. I'll stay at the rec room for a bit. If Coach thinks I'm even a little unwell, she'll make me sit out tomorrow. I don't want to miss anything."

"Obsessed with practice, as always," Akashi said with a chuckle. He patted the boy's head. "Very well. Don't push yourself if you're tired."

"I won't."

Akashi stood up then held out a hand to help Kuroko up. The blue-haired boy took it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kuroko noticed how the redhead's hand lingered as he let go.

Izuki and Takao looked at each other, nodded as if they'd just had a silent conversation and agreed on something, then each put a hand on one of Kuroko's shoulders.

"We're gonna borrow Kuroko for a bit!" Takao said.

Izuki smiled. "We'll do like bananas and split!"

The point guards ran off, dragging Kuroko with them.

"Did he seriously just make that joke?" Himuro asked, bewildered.

"I'm afraid he did," Mayuzumi said.

"That was terrible," Akashi said.

"It was," Nebuya said.

Mayuzumi took out his phone.

 _Mayuzumi: Akashi's face is basically screaming "THEY STOLE BAE" right now_

The Operation AkaKuro members snickered/smiled. It was true!

"What's so funny?" Akashi asked.

"Nothing!" Hayama said.

The redhead eyed the Uncrowned King skeptically.

"It's just something that was in a group chat, Sei-chan," Mibuchi said.

"I see," he said, passively. "By the way, Hayama, Nebuya, I haven't forgotten what happened earlier." His eyes glinted, dangerously.

The two shivered in fear. Akashi's voice sounded so cold it'd give anyone the chills. _He doesn't have scissors on him, does he?_ they thought.

"But I suppose I'll spare you."

"THANK YOU, O GREAT AKASHI-SAMA!" they yelled, kowtowing to the emperor.

Mibuchi smiled. He knew Kuroko made Akashi, but he didn't know he made him happy enough to cancel a punishment. _This could work out nicely for both them and us._

Mayuzumi smiled. _Phase Two, Part One: Complete._


	6. Confessions of a Point Guard

(A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I have AP exams coming up so this will probably be the last chapter that comes out until after my exams. But good news: I finished writing this for you guys instead of studying! XD Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Keep in mind that the **bold** text stands for English, the _italic_ text stands for thoughts, and that Imayoshi has a Kansai accent. The equivalent of Kansai in English is a southern accent so I tried writing his dialogue that way. I feel like I just gave you a key for a map. The stu"dying" of history is getting to me. Anyway, enjoy! :D)

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Chapter Six

Izuki and Takao dragged Kuroko out to the lobby lounge. There were a few chairs around a coffee table so they sat there. It was calmer than in the rec room, which was perfect for Kuroko since he needed to sort things out in his head.

"We thought you might want to cool down a bit before we went back to the rec room," Izuki said.

Kuroko nodded. He definitely needed that. The boy's hand unconsciously went to his mouth. He couldn't fight the blush that rushed to his cheeks and painted them with the color that caused this in the first place as he recollected what happened. The red was obvious since it contrasted with the boy's pale skin. The feeling of the redhead's smooth, soft lips on his, the warmth that came from their embrace, the way his touch made electrical shocks run through his body—the shadow couldn't get it out of his head. It was driving him crazy. His heart was still racing.

 _It was just a kiss. Why am I so flustered? I've written stuff way more perverted than this so why am I so affected by this? Is it because it was my first one?_

The two point guards shared a look then grinned knowingly. This was the first time they've seen usually-stoic-faced Kuroko so emotional when things didn't involve basketball. They were pretty surprised when the shadow lightly slapped himself as an attempt to snap out of it. 'It' being whatever Akashi caused within him.

"You good?" Izuki asked.

"Yes, thank you," he responded.

"Don't mention it. That's what senpai are for," he said with a smile.

"Kuroko, can I ask you something?" Takao asked.

The said boy looked to the hawk-eyed player.

"What do you think of Akashi?"

Kuroko was a bit surprised but answered easily. "I respect him. I owe my whole basketball style to him in the first place."

"Eh? Really?" Takao had never heard that before.

Kuroko nodded.

"Okay, but what do you think of him in 'another' sense?" he pressed on.

"Another sense?"

"Say… romantically."

 _Ah, this is what they've been hinting at. Well, I suppose I should give them an answer._ "I-I like him," he said, his cheeks a rosy shade.

 _HE STUTTERED!_ The point guards almost gasped aloud.

"Since when?" Izuki asked.

"Middle school probably."

"I see, I see," Takao said.

The blue-haired boy blew out some hot air. "So when did you start liking Midorima-kun?"

"Whaaaaaat? Whatchu talkin' bout, boooooy?"

"Don't feign ignorance, Takao-kun," Kuroko said. "I order you to speak up." He stared at the hawk-eyed player with eyes that bore into his soul.

 _Well, he's using his victory to his advantage. Maybe this is an effect of talking to Akashi too much?_ Izuki thought. _Or maybe Akashi passed his demanding-ness to Kuroko during that make out session?_

Takao groaned. "Fine. Whatever." He scratched the back of his head. "Since that time that Seirin first beat Shutoku in last year's InterHigh, I guess. After that time, Shin-chan started opening up more to the team, and we got closer. Before I knew it, I liked him that way. I realized my feelings during the training camp we had when we ran into you guys." A faint blush was dusted across his cheeks.

"Awww! How kawaiiiiii!" Izuki said.

"Izuki-san, sorry, but please shut up," he said, embarrassed.

"No need for that. You may continue if you like, Izuki-senpai," Kuroko said. He liked seeing how the usually loud, teasing, playful Takao suddenly grew quiet and embarrassed when it came to Midorima.

Izuki thought the shadow's sudden sadistic streak came from Akashi, but that was inaccurate as fuck. That streak was his own. Seirin's point guard decided he'd stop teasing for Takao's sake, though.

"It _is_ cute," Kuroko said. "I'm happy to have been able to play a part in that. I can already see this, but I want to hear it from you, Takao-kun. What are your feelings for Midorima-kun?"

The boy's blush turned darker. "I love him," he declared/admitted.

The blue-haired boy smiled. "I can be assured that the one taking care of Midorima-kun is worthy now," he said, acting like a parent giving away their child. He stood up. "Let's get back to the rec room now. The others will go looking for us."

"Yeah, let's," Izuki said, getting up. When Kuroko had already started walking back, he helped Takao up and patted his back sympathetically.

"How did he direct the conversation towards me? Didn't we call him out to ask about Akashi?" Takao said, puzzled.

"The only answer I have for that is that he's getting more like Akashi by the second," Izuki said.

"Are you guys coming or not? If not, I'll leave you behind," Kuroko called from the hallway.

"We're coming!" they said.

They knew one thing for sure. If Kuroko was getting to be more like Akashi, a rage personality would emerge. They _did not_ want the wrath of Kuroko to be unleashed on them.

~The Author~

During the confrontation of the shadow, Operation AkaKuro (minus the point guards) and Akashi were back in the recreation room. Himuro had been called aside by Alex.

 **"Tatsuya, are you aware of Taiga's feelings toward Aomine?"** she asked.

 **"Yeah, I could tell. He's very obvious,"** he said with a small smile.

The blonde smiled. **"He's so clueless about it. Do you know what he asked me earlier?"**

 **"What?"**

 **"'Am I sick?'"** She couldn't control the laughter that escaped her lips. **"He asked if he was sick because his heart was acting all weird!"**

Himuro shook his head, smiling. **"So naïve."**

 **"Right?"** She put her hands on her hips. **"I really wanna help him out with this, but it's something they need to learn on their own."**

 **"Yeah, other than dropping hints, there's really nothing we can do but watch it all play out."**

 **"Yeah."**

The two returnees watched the tall, idiotic redhead interact with Aomine. It was pretty amusing. They'd gotten into another argument that all started with Aomine teasing Kagami a bit.

 **"They're both idiots,"** Alex stated.

 **"Yup,"** Himuro answered.

Meanwhile, Akashi was having the alone time he wanted. He'd gotten annoyed with his teammates so he'd gone over to one of the lounge chairs in the corner. He'd much rather spend his alone time with Kuroko, but he wasn't here at the moment because of two point guards, which slightly pissed him off. But he wouldn't do anything to them because he could use this time to read more of Kuroko's story.

He took out his phone and started reading. He finished the rest of chapter one within a few minutes (and certainly not without turning red a few times) then started on chapter two.

When Kuroko and the two point guards returned to the recreation room, the shadow had his laptop with him and was ready to write. After he'd cleared his head of the closet incident, he decided to write. He needed to stop getting distracted. Seirin's shadow found Akashi sitting in one of the lounge chairs in the corner of the room, reading something on his phone.

He settled down next to the redhead. His presence was acknowledged by the taller boy who then continued with his reading. Kuroko opened his laptop and went to his writing. Well, he didn't immediately start writing. He snuck a few glances at Akashi, wondering if he'd act any differently after that kiss. The redhead caught him staring.

"Is something wrong, Tetsuya?"

"It's nothing," Kuroko denied, shaking his head. _Deciding to act like nothing happened, eh, Akashi-kun? Two can play at that game._

Akashi smiled in amusement. "Alright." _How cute,_ he thought. The scissor-wielding point guard went back to reading. He was still amazed at how dirty the story was.

Kuroko started typing again. He was probably going as fast as a hundred (maybe one-fifty) words per minute. He was able to write about twelve pages more when the peaceful ambience was interrupted by a couple of idiots. Namely, the idiot aces, Aomine and Kagami.

"Yo, Tetsu! Whatcha typing?" Aomine said, putting his arm over Kuroko's head as if he were an armrest. He tried looking at the screen, but the shadow shut his laptop before he could.

Kuroko tilted his head so his former light's arm would fall off. "Something for school," he answered. Akashi smirked. He knew what he was _really_ working on.

"Oh, that essay that Hage-sensei assigned! I haven't started it yet," Kagami said.

"Yeah, I didn't think you had. You _are_ Bakagami," Kuroko said, bluntly.

Aomine burst out in laughter.

"Shut up, Ahomine! It's not like you could do any better!" the tall redhead shot back.

"Bring it on! What's your GPA?" the tanned player challenged. "I have a 1.9!"

"2.2," Kagami said, proudly.

"Eh? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Why would I lie? I have nothing to hide!" he said, triumphantly.

"How'd you get it that high?"

"I got help from Kuroko and the senpais."

"Taiga, Daiki, you do know that GPAs that low isn't something to be proud of, right?" Akashi said, not looking up from his phone.

"Of course they don't know, Akashi-kun. They're idiots," Kuroko stated.

"Hey!" the two aces retorted in sync.

The usually stoic-faced emperor and shadow met the other's eyes then laughed at the expense of the two taller boys.

Aomine and Kagami looked at each other, stunned. The two in front of them hardly ever laughed, but here they were—laughing. They knew something was weird here, but they couldn't quite place their fingers on it. The smaller red and blue pair seemed to be in their own little world.

"What _is_ this?!" Kagami whisper yelled to Aomine. "What is happening?!"

"The world is ending! _Akashi and Tetsu_ are _laughing!"_ Aomine said. "What the fuck?!"

Akashi and Kuroko, knowing that they didn't need to mind them anymore, went back to reading and writing. But the idiots thought they would be in danger if they stayed there any longer while discussing this so they snuck away, thinking that they'd escaped when really they had been let go.

"What has the world come to?!" Kagami said.

"I don't know, but the only thing we can do is stay calm so calm your tits, Bakagami!" he said, taking the redhead's face in his hands.

He turned bright red before stating the obvious. "I'm a guy. I don't have tits, idiot."

Aomine's heart jumped. The redhead was half blushing, half pouting, and half looking away in embarrassment. The blue-haired ace found it adorable. But he was too much of an idiot to know that there can't be three halves in one whole. It didn't matter to him, though. He was just having a kawaii overload. Nothing weird about that. Nothing weird at all.

"Oi, Aomine," Kagami said.

"What?"

"When are you gonna let go of me?"

"Ah, right. Sorry."

"So what are we doing about the strange occurrence just a few minutes ago?"

"'Strange occurrence'? I didn't know you knew big words like that."

"Well, I did. I didn't know you would actually understand what I said," Seirin's ace remarked. "So what are we doing about it?"

"I don't know. Let's ask Kise," Aomine said. "He might know something."

Kagami nodded then they went to find the Kaijo ace. In all honesty, he felt that same irritation from earlier when the blond was the first one the blue-haired boy mentioned, but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't know what to do either so there was really no other choice but to ask someone else. And regarding the case of Akashi and Kuroko's laughter, Kise was the member of the Generation of Miracles who might have a reason as to why that happened that was the most approachable.

"Oi, Kise!" the tanned player yelled.

"Yes, Aominecchi? Kagamicchi?" he asked.

"Something weird—like really weird—happened," Kagami said.

"Okay, what is it?"

Aomine explained all the details of the situation.

Kise started laughing. "They were laughing because of your idiot-ness!" Well, the blond was about a half level above them on the intelligence hierarchy, which wasn't very much, meaning that he was dumb as hell. Just not as much as Kagami and Aomine.

"We know that much, idiot!" Aomine said, smacking him upside the head. "But how often do you actually see them smile?"

"Now that you mention it," the blond struck a thinking pose, "almost never."

"Right? And they were _laughing._ That's how we know something's up."

"We just don't know what that is and thought you might know," Kagami said.

"Hmmm…" Kise said. He looked over to the shadow and emperor. They were silently enjoying the other's company. It was like they were in their own little world. The Kaijo ace gasped. "I've got it!"

"What is it?!" Kagami and Aomine shouted in unison.

"Have you thought that maybe they like each other?"

"What do you mean 'like each other'?" Kagami said. "Of course they like each other. They were teammates. I like my teammates. I like Kuroko."

The two Miracles' jaws dropped. They were amazed at the redhead's naivety.

"Are you kidding?" Aomine said.

"Uh, no? I don't get it. What's happening?"

"Child…" Kise didn't know how he was gonna explain this to the Seirin ace.

"Yo, I got this, Kise," Aomine said, pushing him aside.

Kise pushed him back. "No. I know you're gonna end up saying something perverted that'll scar him," the blond said with a stern look. "We must proceed with caution. I'll do it. I order you to stand back."

Aomine scoffed. "Fine. But I'm still sure that the only one who could explain it in the best way to Kagami is me."

Kise sighed. "Okay, Kagamicchi. Let's see…" He thought of a way to say this so he'd would understand. "They like each other in a different way than the way that you like Kuroko as a teammate."

"A different way?" Kagami asked.

"Romantically. Like the way your parents like each other." _And how I think you like Aominecchi._

"Oh." The redhead processed the blond's words. "EEEEHHHHHHHH?"

"Quiet down or Akashicchi will notice something!" Kise said, lowering his voice to just above a whisper.

"So Kuroko… and A-Akashi… like like each other…?" He tried to fit the pieces together in his head, but his mind was overloading. It didn't have a high capacity to begin with.

"I thought so cuz they look like they're in their own little world." _Like how you two get sometimes._ He wanted to add that statement out loud but decided against it. They needed to realize their feelings without any major hints. "And something seems different about both of them individually."

"Like what?" Aomine said.

"I feel like Akashicchi isn't as punish-y to people as he normally is. And Kurokocchi seems like he has more of a presence when Akashicchi is around. And they're both more expressive but only when the other is nearby."

They thought for a moment, processing everything and thinking back to past events. What Kise said was true.

"I guess they do like each other," Aomine said.

"Yeah… As Akashi and Kuroko's friends (he wasn't really one of Akashi's), we should support them." Kagami paused. "Hold on. Wait a minute. Akashi and Kuroko? Isn't that kind of dangerous?" he said.

"What do you mean? For who?" Kise said.

"Everyone! They'll take over the world! World domination!"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Bakagami?" Aomine said.

 _"That,"_ he pointed to the smaller red- and blue-haired boys, "is frickin' dangerous."

"How?" Kise said. "Well, I can understand Akashicchi but Kurokocchi?"

The redhead shivered. **"Oh, my god."** He was so terrified he reverted back to English. "You guys have never seen how friggin' scary Kuroko can be. There was one time that I happened to annoy him a lot. I swear he was scarier than Akashi."

"Tetsu?" Aomine raised an eyebrow. "Impossible."

"Fine," Kagami said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Don't believe me. But it's possible. So friggin' possible. I'm gonna grab something from the vending machine. Come if you want." He could've just made Midorima get it for him, but he felt too bad for the guy.

And so the three idiots went out to the vending machines. But not without catching the attention of two captains: Kasamatsu and Imayoshi. The Kansai-speaking player only noticed because of the former Kaiijo point guard's abrupt glance to the side.

"Ah, could it be that ya like Kise-kun, Kasamatsu-san?" the squinty-eyed captain said.

"Wha—" His faced turned a bit pink. That question definitely caught him by surprise. "And I don't suppose you have the hots for Aomine," he shot back.

Imayoshi smirked. "Feisty. But I can truthfully say I don't. I have someone else in mind who's a bit more calculatin' than him." Somewhere in Tokyo a certain Uncrowned King with thick eyebrows sneezed. "But do ya?"

"No. I can't," he replied quickly.

"'I can't'? Ya obviously do, though."

The former Kaijo captain ruffled his hair in frustration. "Argh, fine. You've seen through me. I do." He sighed. "But I can't."

"What makes ya say that?"

He hesitated for a few seconds. "He has a career as a model. I'm pretty sure me being with him isn't gonna help him. If anything, it'll make things worse for him. And I'm not even sure he likes me that way in the first place." Kasamatsu didn't know why he was telling _Imayoshi_ of all people, but he was. He probably just needed someone to talk to about this who wasn't at his school. If he'd told his teammates, they'd most likely tease him every time the blond was around.

"Have ya confessed?" the former Touo captain asked, losing the smirk. He knew this was serious, and he actually wanted to help. Imayoshi really wasn't as evil as everyone made him out to be. He could be nice sometimes. Sometimes. That and he liked playing matchmaker.

"No… But I'm pretty sure it'd be flat out rejection. There are a bunch of pretty girls out there that like him. I'm sure he'd end up with one of them."

"Ya can't be sure until it's happened," the squinty-eyed captain said, thought-provokingly. "Haven't we all learned that from Seirin? I'm pretty sure all the teams here other than Seirin thought that they'd surely win against them, that there was no possible way for Seirin to win against them, but all our expectations were wrong. We were sure we'd win, but we lost. My point is, we can't be sure of the outcome until it actually happens."

Kasamatsu was surprised that Imayoshi could even give a speech this uplifting. If he was telling him this, it had to mean something important.

"I encourage ya to confess. Accepted or not, ya'll still get it over with and have no regrets."

A few moments passed before Kasamatsu actually answered. "I guess I'll do it then," he said, a light pink dusting his cheeks. "Thanks, Imayoshi."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do as a slave," he said, smirk returning. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. Practice tomorrow'll be brutal as ever so I might as well replenish my energy."

A loud whistle rang throughout the room. It went quite, and all eyes turned to the one who blew it, which was Aida Riko. "EVERYONE HEAD TO BED!" she yelled. "You'll all be training so get some rest! Breakfast is at eight! Don't be late, or you're not getting anything! Dismissed!"

"I guess the coaches had the same idea," Kasamatsu said.

"Yeah," Imayoshi agreed. "See ya tomorrow."

"See ya."

All the players, coaches, and managers made their way to their rooms and went to bed to prepare for their hellish training for the next day.


	7. Morning Madness

(A/N: Hello, readers! Well, I recently just got over a fever and am recovering. I didn't go to school today, and, instead of doing all the stuff I have to make up, I wrote another chapter! Anyway, my AP exam is over, but school still sucks. There is more of Kuroko's fanfic in this story.

Reminders:

1) The anime he's writing from is completely made up. Any similarity to an actual anime or manga is purely coincidental.

2) The protagonists names are Hibiki (uke) and Kishi (seme).

Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! Those reviews are always welcome! ;) Anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!)

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Chapter Seven

In the Generation of Miracles' room, chaos ensued.

Kise and Aomine were having a pillow fight. Murasakibara had joined in because Akashi hadn't allowed him to eat inside the room. Midorima was reading a book but was soon hit in the face by a pillow thrown by Aomine. He didn't want to stoop to their level so he ignored his irritation and kept reading. When he got hit a second time, knocking his glasses off of his head, he snapped. He shot the pillow back, nailing Aomine's head with a smirk.

While this was happening, Akashi was still reading, and Kuroko was still typing away on his laptop. Kuroko's chapters were so long that they even took Akashi a while to read. He was about halfway maybe three fourths through the second chapter.

The chaos died down the instant a pillow almost smacked Akashi in the head. But it didn't exactly hit him. I said 'almost', didn't I? Kise made the mistake of throwing a pillow in Akashi's direction. Akashi had stuck out a pair of scissors before the pillow could reach him. Its momentum caused the scissors to stab through it, piercing a hole in the middle of the pillow. Where he got the scissors was unknown. Silence overcame the group. If a pin was dropped, you'd hear it.

"Ryouta, do you have something to say?" Akashi said, his eye glinting.

 _Shoot, I'm dead!_ Kise thought. "Haha… Sorry, Akashicchi. I was aiming for Murasakibaracchi," he said, nervously.

Akashi was about to throw it back at Kise when Kuroko nudged him. "Akashi-kun, may I do the honors?" he asked, looking up from his laptop.

The redhead smiled. "It's all yours." He leaned close to the smaller boy's ear and spoke in a barely audible voice, "Make it a Kai."

Kuroko nodded, put his laptop aside (closed this time), and stood.

"Shit!" Aomine said. He knew what was coming the moment Kuroko stood. He sort of understood what Kagami meant now. "Kise, you're dead! See you in the afterlife!" He moved to the other side of the room and saluted. "You've fought well, soldier."

"NOOOO! I DON'T WANNA DIE! AOMINECCHI!"

Midorima pushed up his glasses. "Divine retribution."

"Bye, Kise-chin," Murasakibara said.

"MIDORIMACCHI! MURASAKIBARACCHI! NOT YOU TOO!"

Akashi passed the ball to Kuroko who immediately spun around and sent the pillow cycloning towards the blond. "Ignite Pass Kai!"

The moment the pillow made impact with Kise's stomach, he fell over and knocked out, his last words being, "Kurokocchi… Why…?"

"Anyone else want a taste?" Akashi asked.

The remaining Miracles furiously shook their heads.

"Then go to bed."

They scrambled to get into their futons. Murasakibara and Midorima peacefully obeyed the emperor's orders. Midorima took off his glasses and placed them next to his pillow. Aomine dragged Kise to his grave (futon), placed him in the grave, put his pierced headstone (pillow) under his head, and buried him (in blankets) before getting into his own futon. It was the least he could do for his poor teammate who was unfortunate enough to cross Akashi, which also meant crossing Kuroko. On the other hand, Kuroko plugged in his laptop before getting into his futon, which was next to Akashi's. He planned to wake up earlier than everyone to write.

"I'm turning out the lights now," Akashi said.

The room went dark. Akashi safely made his way back to his futon. They said their goodnights then drifted off to dreamland.

~The Author~

A few hours later, Kuroko woke up. It was probably around three. It was such an odd time to wake up. (Izuki would be proud.) Honestly, he didn't know why. He had some dream then just woke up. He couldn't remember what his dream was at all, but thanks to that, he couldn't fall back asleep. Looking to his sides, Kise and Akashi weren't moving. The shadow deducted that his teammates were asleep (as they should be), and he didn't want to disturb them so he just lay still, though he would really rather continue writing.

Mentally, Kuroko let out a loooooooooooong sigh. After a few minutes he was bored. He glanced to Akashi again then to the ceiling. His mind drifted to what happened earlier. _Why'd he kiss me?_ He glanced at the redhead again who was still unmoving.

"Tetsuya, I know you're awake."

Kuroko's eyes widened. He turned on his side to face him. "Akashi-kun, you should've told me you were awake earlier," he whispered.

"I could've, but then I wouldn't have known about your night creeper side," he said, smirking. "You never cease to amuse me, Tetsuya."

Kuroko sat up. "Says the one who watched me in my sleep earlier," he deadpanned.

Akashi let out a small laugh.

"Yeah. I thought so."

The redhead sat up to meet the shadow's eyes. "So what's keeping you up?"

The blue-haired boy sighed. "I had a dream I can't remember. It's bothering me. How long have you been awake?"

"I woke up a little before you did. I felt you stir then figured you were awake."

"Who's being the night creeper now?"

"Well, at least yours truly wasn't continually looking at you," Akashi rebutted. "Like I said, I could feel your movements."

"It was a few glances, and it was not 'continual'," Kuroko pouted. "What's keeping you up?"

"I had something on my mind," Akashi said.

"May I ask what that is?"

The blue-haired boy stared straight into the redhead's eyes, which is exactly what made the emperor lose himself. Before Kuroko could blink, the redhead had pressed their lips together. Akashi pulled the shadow close. This kiss was gentle and slow, chaste. Unlike the ones they shared in the storage room but still filled with the same fondness.

When they broke away, Akashi leaned close and whispered, "Does that answer your question?"

Kuroko, with flushed cheeks, just stared for a moment then had enough sense to nod slowly. His blush was visible even in the dark room. He was unable to say anything. He felt like his heart was about to explode.

Akashi ruffled his hair affectionately. "Go back to sleep, Tetsuya. You'll need the energy for tomorrow."

The shadow nodded, knowing it was pointless to try and argue with this stubborn point guard.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Kuroko got back in his futon. _Go back to sleep? How am I supposed to sleep after that?_ He closed his eyes in attempt to drift back to sleep, but he couldn't.

Little did he know the redhead couldn't either. And little did they know that a certain blond had seen that little scene.

Kise had woken up after he'd been knocked out by Kuroko's Ignite Pass Kai. When he heard the quiet voices and opened his eyes, he started sweating bullets while frantically trying to pretend to still be asleep.

He was currently freaking out internally. _OH, SHOOOOOOT! I'M SCREWED IF THEY FIND OUT I SAW! Wait… THEY KISSED! OMG! WAIT TILL I TELL AOMINECCHI AND KAGAMICCHI! I NEED TO TELL SENPAI TOO!_

And so came the next day.

~The Author~

As Kuroko told himself he would, he got up early to write. He hadn't been able to sleep because of Akashi's little stunt so he was eager for this chance of distraction.

The shadow changed out of his yukata to his training clothes in the bathroom then took his laptop and walked to the recreation room. He plopped himself in one of the chairs and opened his laptop. It was 5:14. He had the perfect writing environment. No one would be here at this hour so it was quiet. The noises from outside the room such as the hotel staff moving around and the people cooking breakfast made a peaceful ambience.

Kuroko started typing.

 _I woke up to something completely unexpected: Kishi right next to me._

 _At first I just snuggled back into his arms, but then I realized that he would normally be gone by this time._

 _I jolted up into a sitting position. "Kishi?!"_

 _"No need to be so loud in the morning, Hibiki," he said._

 _"Wait, why are you here?!"_

 _"Oh, did I not tell you?"_

 _"What?" I demanded._

 _"It's no big deal. It also happens with all my brothers and our replacements, as well. If I fell in love with the person who summoned me and vice versa, then I'd become human. All the spirits have this chance if they get summoned."_

 _"What?!"_

 _"Calm down, Hibiki. It's actually quite beneficial for both of us. We both get to be together more often."_

 _"But can't you be seen by other people now? And what about when I leave for school? What are you gonna do then?"_

 _He smiled. "Relax. It's all taken care of. My mother takes care of everything when her sons become human."_

 _"Your mother?"_

 _"She's the queen of the angels. She basically has the power to bend other humans to her will. She only uses this power when one of us becomes human so she can easily settle us in with the human lifestyle."_

 _I nodded._

 _"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" He gestured to the clock. "Your school starts at 8:30, doesn't it?" The clock said 8:21._

 _8:21?!_

 _"Shit, I'm gonna be late!" I jumped out of bed and pulled on my clothes then grabbed my bag. "Bye, Kishi! See you when I get back!" I said before running out of the room._

 _I was wrong about that, though. I was gonna see him sooner than I expected._

Kuroko smiled. He had so much planned for this. He was super fired up. _Okay, next chapter,_ he thought.

 _I ran to my classroom. I made it right before the bell rang. When the teacher came in, he suddenly announced that we were getting a transfer student._

 _In the middle of a semester was kind of an awkward time to change schools, but it was probably because of a move or job transfer of a parent. Or maybe they're a returnee from the States? That'd be pretty cool, but what's the chance of that happening?_

 _"Okay, you can come in now," the teacher called._

 _To my surprise, Kishi walked in, looking super hot in our uniform. My jaw dropped._

 _"Please introduce yourself, Saito-kun." Saito? Did he seriously just take that from the last movie we watched?_

 _Kishi smiled. "Hello. My name is Saito Kishi. I'm an American returnee so please excuse any of my cultural errors."_

 _The girls in class started chattering excitedly. I was awfully irritated by this._

 _"Does anyone have any questions for Saito-kun?" Tanaka-sensei asked._

 _"What part of the States were you from?" someone asked._

 _"Los Angeles," Kishi answered._

 _"Do you play basketball?"_

 _"I do."_

 _"Did you learn basketball in the states?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Do you have a girlfriend?"_

 _He smiled and met my eyes. "No comment."_

 _Tanaka-sensei cleared his throat. "Okay, if anyone else has questions for him, you can ask later. We need to get class started. Saito-kun, you can take a seat next to Sakai-kun in the back. He'll be your partner and will show you around campus."_

 _Kishi nodded then made his way to the seat next to me. He smiled. "I'll be in your care, Sakai Hibiki-kun." I could feel every girl in class glaring in envy, but I was just happy that I could have school to be with Kishi too._

 _—Lunch—_

 _Kishi and I left the classroom before he could get interrogated by the girls. Honestly, they're getting really annoying. I shook off that thought and smiled. I get to have a school life with Kishi! Woohoooooooo!_

 _"You're smiling an awful lot, Hibiki," he said._

 _"Is it wrong to be happy I can spend more time with you?" I pouted._

 _"I guess not," he said with that charming smile of his._

 _We were on our way to the cafeteria, but we were in one of the hallways that no one uses but probably me. I go this way since I don't like interacting that much with others except for the people in my club._

 _I stopped and turned around. "Kishi?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Kiss?" I asked, a slight blush making its way across my cheeks._

 _He laughed softly. "You didn't need to ask."_

 _He cupped my cheek and brought our lips together. Our lips moved in sync. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, while I clutched the front of his shirt. I opened my mouth. His tongue battled with mine. I moaned into the kiss. I felt like I was gonna fall over._

Kuroko had to stop writing. This scene was reminding him too much of what Akashi did to him earlier. This was the first time he's tried writing from personal experience. It was so… different. He could feel his heart beating like a drum as he remembered the two incidents in which Akashi kissed him. Well, he couldn't say he didn't like it.

He checked the time. 7:57.

 _Well, I guess I'll head to the dining hall now,_ he thought.

He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth first then went to the dining hall. He didn't even try to tame his bedhead. It was too difficult.

When Kuroko got there, he found Seirin sitting at one table, the Generation of Miracles at another table, and the manager and coaches at another. The shadow didn't know where he should go. Since all the Miracles were together, he decided to go with them. He could sit with Seirin tomorrow. Kuroko said good morning to his team then went to his chatting former teammates.

The tables were circular. Akashi had Kise to his left who was next to Aomine who was next to Murasakibara who was next to Midorima. The last open seat was reserved for the shadow between the carrot and the emperor.

Midorima insisted on sitting next to the Seirin player since his lucky item was a person of lesser luck, preferably one level lesser. The preferred sign was Scorpio but no one among the Miracles was a Scorpio so he settled for Kuroko who was the second level below him. He'd be okay once training started since he'd have Takao. The thing he was supposed to watch out for was extremely close contact since something not specified would be spread according to Oha Asa. But he figured that wouldn't be a problem since he never let people get into his space in the first place.

"Good morning," Kuroko said.

Other than Akashi, no one noticed he was there until he spoke up.

"Morni— HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aomine burst out in laughter when he actually saw the boy. "Tetsu, your hair! No matter how many times I see it, it's still this hilarious!"

"Kuro-chin's hair is fluffy. Like cotton candy," Murasakibara said, patting his hair.

"Please stop that, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko said.

"Kurokocchi! I'll fix it for you!" Kise offered.

"I feel like you'd put a bunch of stuff in my hair so no," he rejected.

The others in the room looked over to see what the racket was about. Seirin sighed. It was just Kuroko's bedhead.

Meanwhile, Momoi was freaking out. _Tetsu-kun's bedhead is so kawaiiiiiiiiii!_

"Tetsuya, sit. I'll fix it for you," Akashi said.

Kuroko sat in the empty chair. The redhead skillfully combed through the shadow's hair with his fingers. Within a couple of minutes, the blue-haired boy's hair was tamed. Akashi turned on the frontal camera and handed his phone to Kuroko.

"Eh?" He looked at himself. His bedhead was gone in an instant. He looked to the redhead and handed his phone back. "How'd you do it this fast, Akashi-kun? This is like magic."

"A magician never reveals his secrets," the redhead said, smiling.

Izuki had secretly taken a picture of them and sent it to Operation AkaKuro.

 _Izuki: So kawaiiiiiiiii_

 _Mibuchi: Sei-chan's being so adorable!_

 _Takao: Awwwww_

Takao smiled at how Midorima was in the background of the picture. Himuro was the same with Murasakibara being caught on camera with his maiubo.

 _Himuro: How cute!_

"Man, I'm hungry," Aomine said. "When is food gonna be ready?"

"It should be ready in a few minutes," Kuroko said. "Kagami-kun's cooking Western-style breakfast with Alex-san and Himuro-san."

"Eh? Muro-chin and Kaga-chin are cooking?" Murasakibara said. "It should be good then."

 _Score! I get to eat Kagami's cooking!_ Aomine thought.

Kise was having fun reading the faces around him. It seemed to him that Aomine was super happy about eating Kagami's food, which was pretty accurate, and Akashi and Kuroko were both still concerned about last night's incident, though they didn't show it.

When Kaijo and Touo walked in, led by their captains, Kise ran towards Kasamatsu.

"GOOD MORNING, SENPAI!" he yelled, glomping him.

"Dammit, Kise. You're gonna kill my ears!" Kasamatsu said, shoving him off.

"So mean!"

Imayoshi smiled knowingly at the grumpy captain then led his team to one of the open tables.

"I wouldn't have to be mean if you didn't act like a child," Kasamatsu reasoned.

The rest of the Kaijo team went to the table next to Seirin's.

"Oh, yeah! Senpai, I need to tell you something later. Is during our practice break good or would after practice be better?" Kise asked.

Kasamatsu looked at him weirdly. "Whenever."

"'kay. During practice break then. It's really, really urgent, but I can't tell you right now. See you later, senpai!" Kise said with a wave before walking back to the Miracles.

 _What could be so important yet he can't tell me now?_ Kasamatsu thought. _Well, I have something like that, but that most likely isn't gonna come out of Kise's mouth._ He made his way to the Kaijo table.

Then Rakuzan and Yosen entered. Rakuzan took the table closest to the Generation of Miracles (since they wanted to spy on their ship), and Yosen took the last open table.

"Food's ready!" Alex yelled from the kitchen door. "Come send your slaves up to get your food!"

The slaves stood up to get their and their masters' food.

Midorima and Aomine were annoyed at this since they had to get Kagami and Kise's food, but they had to. Murasakibara eagerly got up. If it was food, there was no stopping him. Especially if it was made by Himuro.

At the kitchen, Himuro and Kagami were assembling the plates of food: two eggs sunny side up, a couple slices of french toast, and three pieces of crispy bacon. Seconds were available for those who wanted it (mainly directed toward Aomine, Murasakibara, and Kagami). Himuro quickly brought out Mayuzumi's meal. When he returned, Alex brought food to Seirin's trio and Tsuchida then went to the coaches/manager table to eat. It was just the two teenaged returnees manning the kitchen then.

"Morning, Muro-chin," Murasakibara said, taking two plates of food for him and Akashi.

"Good morning, Atsushi," the returnee said with a smile. "Be sure to eat enough, okay? It's not good to train on an empty stomach."

"'kay." The giant walked back to his table and presented the food to the emperor.

When Aomine came to get food, his eyes went directly to Kagami. _God, he looks cute in that apron._ "Morning, Kagami," Aomine said, smiling.

"Morning," the redhead said, his heart beating fast again. He noted how refreshed the Miracle ace looked. _Dammit, Aomine. Why do you look so cool in the morning?_

The tanned teen took the food then went back to the table. He placed the food in front of the blond then sat down, said his thanks, and started eating. A few minutes later, Takao came with Kuroko's food.

"Here ya go, Kuroko!" he said, enthusiastically placing the plate in front of him. Kagami had specially set aside a plate for him since he ate so little.

"Thank you, Takao-kun."

"No problem!" he said with a smile.

While Takao was serving Kuroko, Midorima had come back after leaving Kagami's food at the Seirin table. Midorima hadn't even acknowledged him. Well, the carrot wasn't a morning person. He was about half awake. He honestly just forgot to greet his partner. But, nevertheless, this still really irritated the hawk-eyed boy so he decided to mess with the shooting guard.

He leaned close to the boy since he knew the tall shooting guard hated people getting into his space. "Good morning, Shin-chan!"

In surprise, Midorima quickly turned to the side where Takao was at, and the one thing the carrot was trying to avoid for today was unavoidable. Takao was close enough that when the green-haired boy looked to the side they came face to face with each other, and their lips met. And, unfortunately, the Miracle table was the one that everyone had to pass to get their food.

The two Shutoku players jerked back, both turning red. Kise's jaw dropped. Aomine choked on his food. Murasakibara dropped his fork. Kuroko stared at them in amusement. Akashi's eyes widened at the accidental display of affection, but he looked on in interest.

When Midorima recovered from his shock, he yelled loud enough to attract the attention of everyone there. "TAKAOOOOO!"

"Haha… Sorry, Shin-chan." Takao's face was flushed. "I'm just gonna… go back to the Shutoku table," he said awkwardly. He quickly retreated. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! I JUST KISSED SHIN-CHAN!_

A few minutes later, Murasakibara realized he had nothing to eat with. He would've just used his hands, but he'd get scolded by Akashi. "I'm gonna get another fork." He got up and went to the kitchen.

"Whoa, there, Midorima. Don't get too crazy," Aomine said.

"OMG!" Kise yelled. He grabbed Aomine and ran to the kitchen, dragging the power forward along. "KAGAMICCHIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Kagami heard the boy shout long before he actually got to the kitchen. "What is it, Kise? You're so damn loud!"

"OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG. O. M. G."

"Dangit, what is it?"

"TAKAOCCHI AND MIDORIMACCHI KISSED!"

"THEY WHAT?" It was Kagami's turn to freak out. He wasn't good with any love-related stuff so it was pretty surprising to him.

"THEY KISSED! OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!"

"Wait, what actually happened?"

Kise was too excited to speak coherently so Aomine explained. "Basically, Takao surprised Midorima. He was really close so when Midorima turned to face him they accidentally kissed."

Kagami was turning red just talking about this. Himuro had overheard as he was getting Murasakibara another fork.

"OMG. THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE I NEED TO TELL YOU GUYS."

"What?" the two power forwards said.

Kise looked around to make sure the shadow and emperor weren't anywhere near them. "Kurokocchi and Akashicchi kissed!" he whisper-yelled, loud enough for Himuro to overhear.

"WHAT?!" the idiots yelled.

"When was this?!" Aomine asked.

"Last night! Or I guess I should say early morning. It was like 3ish. I woke up after I got knocked out by Kurokocchi's Ignite Pass Kai."

"Wait, why'd he use it on you?" Kagami asked.

"So we were having a pillow fight, and I accidentally threw it at Akashicchi. He got kinda mad. He was gonna throw it back at me, but Kurokocchi volunteered to throw it. He used Ignite Pass Kai then I blacked out," Kise explained with a sheepish laugh. "Anyways, back to my other story, when I woke up I heard Kurokocchi and Akashicchi talking. It was something about why they were still awake. But when Kurokocchi asked Akashicchi, Akashicchi kissed him! I don't think they noticed I was awake cuz they seemed too focused on each other, but I also pretended like I was asleep."

"Whoa, okay. That's news," Aomine admitted.

"I know right!"

By then Murasakibara and Himuro had left to go eat. Himuro went to the Rakuzan table before heading to the Yosen table.

"I have new intel on the operation," he said. "Would you like to hear it now or later?"

"Later. We're a bit too close to them at the moment," Mayzumi said.

Himuro nodded then walked away.

This chaotic morning started Day Two of their cataclysmic trip.


	8. Lovesick Fools

**(A/N: Hello, readers! I'm back! I'm on summer break so I'm hoping to update more frequently, but I also have other stories that I'm writing so that will probably stop me from working on this one. I'll at least try to update The Author once a month.** **Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :D)**

* * *

Chapter Eight

After breakfast, training started. The players split up into their respective teams. The plan for today was that every team would be doing a different workout. After a certain amount of time, they would rotate so by the end of the day, everyone would have done everything. The teams would train then get a practice break halfway through the morning training, continue training, they'd gather together for lunch when it was time, go back to practice, get another practice break, train some more, eat dinner together, and finally continue on with their table tennis tournament.

They started with Seirin doing sprints and footwork training, Kaijo running, Shutoku doing individual court drills (like shooting), Touo doing circuits, Yosen doing partner drills (like passing and one-on-one games), and Rakuzan doing leg training. Kaijo was running on the beach, Shutoku and Yosen were doing their exercises in the gym (and yes, there was a gym in Akashi's hotel facility), and Seirin, Touo, and Rakuzan were at the outdoor basketball hoops that was a little ways farther than the gym. The whole resort was basically the perfect place for athletes to train and relax, as expected from Akashi.

Now, this could've gone smoothly, but not all things go according to plan.

The Generation of Miracles all had different things that distracted them and that eventually disturbed practice. Let's start with Seirin, shall we?

With Seirin, all of them were pretty shaken up by the incident they'd witnessed at breakfast between Midorima and Takao. Hyuuga was a little more distracted since he pretty much thought that Akashi was out to kill him after he'd accidentally walked in on him and Kuroko last night.

The two Seirin players that were majorly distracted were the light and shadow duo. Kuroko had his brain filled with Akashi, and Kagami was the same with Aomine. It didn't help that both of the distractions were nearby doing their training, which was when the duo thought they looked the coolest. The partners couldn't focus at all. Their eyes kept wandering to their respective distractions, both of them kept spacing out. Kagami wasn't paying attention, and Kuroko kept stumbling and tripping on his own feet.

Riko obviously noticed that something was wrong with them since they kept making mistakes throughout the first exercise. She checked her watch. It was almost time for their break. She blew her whistle, deciding to give them their break early.

"Okay, break! Get some water and rest up before we rotate positions with Rakuzan! You have ten minutes!" After Kuroko and Kagami grabbed their water bottles, Riko pulled them aside. "Kagami, Kuroko, I need to talk to you two for a bit."

The duo looked at each other with dreading expressions, knowing they were in trouble, but followed anyway. The other Seirin players noticed but decided it was best to stay away.

"Okay, you two. Spit it out. What's bothering you?" she said. "Both of you have been spacey since breakfast, and you've been stumbling in your footwork all of this morning." She put her hands on her hips. "Is something worrying you? Before I'm your coach, I'm your friend. You can trust me with important matters."

Both players were looking at the floor, but Kagami answered first. "I think I might be sick." He sighed. "I wanted to keep practicing so I didn't say anything."

"Bakagami!" Riko yelled. "If you're sick, say something! So what's happening to you?"

"I don't know. Heart palpitation? It only happens sometimes around certain people. Like, it's not happening now. Alex said I'd be okay," the redhead said, scratching his head.

Kuroko looked up at him. "Kagami-kun, has this ever happened around just one person?"

"Yeah."

"Who was it?"

Riko watched the shadow interrogate his light, realizing where he was going.

"Aomine."

"Have you ever felt high irritation towards someone for just being close to him?"

"Actually, yeah."

"I see. That makes sense." Kuroko looked to the female coach to make sure she got that.

"Why?"

Kuroko ignored him. "Coach." He summoned her closer. "Should we tell him he has love sickness?" he whispered, soft enough that the idiot wouldn't hear.

"Oi, don't ignore me! Kuroko!" Kagami said, but it was futile since he was ignored again.

"I don't know. Part of me wants to let him learn on his own, part of me wants to tell him already so he'll stop being distracted," she whispered back.

"Oooooiiiiiii!" Kagami said, trying to get their attention.

"Coach, Shia LeBoeuf. Just do it. I don't think he'd ever realize it if we left him alone," Kuroko answered.

She nodded then they both turned to Kagami who was slightly irritated because they ignored him.

"Kagami, we have something to tell you that might be a bit of a shock," she began.

"What?" Kagami said, rather dumbly.

"It has to do with your 'sickness,'" she said, using air quotes.

"Why the 'air quotes?'"

"Hate to break it to you, but you're not actually sick," Riko said.

"Oh, thank god," the basketball junkie said. "So I can still practice?"

"Of course you can! But your 'sickness' isn't an actual physical sickness."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko said, "you're lovesick."

"Eh?"

"You like someone. Namely, Aomine-kun."

"Of course I like Aomine! He's my friend and rival!"

Riko face-palmed. Kuroko internally did the same. _You're literally a lovesick fool,_ they thought.

"You like him more than a friend," Kuroko said.

Kagami gave them a blank stare while he was processing this. "Eh?"

They nodded at him slowly in attempt to make him understand.

"EEEHHHHH?!" he turned red and tried to cover it up with his hands but failed horribly. "I-I l-l-like A-Aomine? Like, like like?"

"Yes, you do, Kagami," Riko said.

"So that's why I turn all weird around him?"

"Yes, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said. _Haha, he's in the awkward stage. I'm not really in a position to make fun of him for that, though._ "Hopefully, that realization will help you focus more on practice. Because you want to be better than Aomine-kun at basketball."

"Doesn't that give you motivation to do well and _concentrate?_ " the Seirin coach said.

The ace thought for a moment. "Hell, yeah!"

"So let's get back to practice, shall we?" the shadow said. He turned and started walking away.

Riko grabbed his shoulder. "Kuroko…" she said, ominously. "Where do you think you're going?" The shadow was scared to look back. "Don't think we're done talking. Kagami wasn't the only distracted one." She made him and Kagami sit. "Kuroko, what's up with you?"

He waited a moment before vaguely answering, "Stuff."

The coach gave a deadpanned expression. "I can see that. More in detail please. Like what you said to Kagami, I'm hoping that talking it out will ease your mind and better your ability to concentrate. Are you having love problems too?"

The blue-haired boy looked away. "No comment."

"Ah, so you are," she said.

The shadow sighed. "Stuff happened with Akashi-kun," he said, knowing it'd be futile to try to withhold information from his Coach.

Riko smiled. _OTP!_ "I see. Care to share more? I won't force you."

He shook his head.

"Alright, then." She let him go since he was usually soft-spoken in the first place.

"Hey! Why does Kuroko get the right to remain silent?" Kagami said.

"Because you're an idiot," she justified. She checked her watch. "Okay, well, there are a couple more minutes until the break is over. Take this time to rest up a bit and sort out your thoughts. Once we rotate, I expect you to give it your all. We _are_ going to win InterHigh and the Winter Cup this year, right? Let's not forget about the set punishment either."

Kagami and Kuroko got chills. They _absolutely_ did not want to confess naked to Aomine or Akashi. "Yes, Coach," they said.

"Oh, yeah. One more thing." She smiled. "It's not bad to have these feelings. Just don't let it affect your practice. Especially during this time we have to practice with everyone."

They nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna check on the others. Rest up." The female coach walked over to the rest of the players and left the light and shadow to think.

After the break, Seirin rotated and moved on to leg training. Practice was smooth sailing after the talk Kagami and Kuroko had with their coach.

~The Author~

During Touo's practice, Aomine couldn't stop glancing over at Seirin the whole time. This didn't go unnoticed by Momoi.

"Oi, Dai-chan," she said.

"Hn?"

"You should really stop staring at Kagamin and start finishing your circuits."

"I was not!" the tanned player denied.

"You were too!" she remarked. The manager quickly thought of a way to motivate him. "Coach said once you finish your designated circuits, you can have your break until switching time. If you finish early, then you can stare at Kagamin all you want," she said with a smile.

After hearing that, Aomine ran ahead of his teammates to quickly finish. As he intended, he did finish early and spent the rest of the time until break watching the double-eyebrowed redhead. His unconscious smile was caught by his childhood friend.

Momoi giggled. _Haha, I should use Kagamin to get Dai-chan to do stuff more often._ She smiled after realizing how sincere his expression was. _He really does love him._

~The Author~

With Shutoku, Midorima was aggravated to say the least. He couldn't concentrate at all, the rumors about what happened earlier had already spread to all of the teams, including the ones that usually wouldn't care, and his team was doing shooting practice, but he wasn't making _any_ of his shots. He was hoping the 'close contact' he had with Takao wouldn't affect his luck since Takao was supposed to be his lucky item, but apparently, it had the opposite affect.

During the break, the green-haired shooter was scolded by his coach and told to pull it together, but he didn't know how. His fate was turned against him today. Next thing you know, nearby black cats would be walking under ladders, cracking mirrors, and spilling salt. The worst thing that could happen to him was his glasses breaking.

When they rotated with Yosen, who was doing partner drills, it was worse for Midorima because his partner was Takao who had caused his bad luck. And the fact that they were basically avoiding each other as best they could. Things were really, really awkward for them at the moment. Their coach had assigned a two-on-two exercise so the carrot and his hawk-eyed partner were up against the Miyaji brothers. It was going really badly since they weren't in sync at all, and, like I said, Midorima wasn't making any of his shots. Their match ended 37-4 in favor of the Miyajis. The few points that were scored were made by the raven-haired boy. Afterwards, Midorima and Takao were told to sit out and watch the other two-on-two games until they finished with them.

Rakuzan had seen the outcome of the game, as well. They were doing their individual shooting practice, but the outcome was so unusual that they just had to look. The Miracle shooter had just gotten slaughtered. They honestly felt really bad for him. Akashi decided he had to take some sort of action to help them. He walked towards them. Coach Shirogane saw him go towards the Shutoku side but said nothing. He trusted Akashi enough to know what he was doing.

"Shintaro, a word, please," the redhead said. The shooter stood up and followed the point guard out to the gym entrance, knowing it wouldn't be good if he refused. They stood by the double doors in the shade of the building. "In all our years at Teiko, I've never seen you get wiped out that badly even on an unlucky day. What makes today different?"

Akashi knew, of course, but he wanted to see how much Midorima actually knew about his misfortune. It actually didn't have anything to do with his luck. It was all distraction relating to Takao.

Midorima thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe because I'm having a person as a lucky item today? But that doesn't make sense because that's worked before." He fiddled with his tape. "Or maybe because I couldn't avoid something that was supposed to mess with my luck. But that doesn't make sense either. Even though I was supposed to avoid close contact, it shouldn't have given me misfortune because it was with the person who was supposed to be my lucky item." He said nothing for a while and just thought of reasons why his luck wasn't working for him.

Akashi gave him some time then decided to speak. "Shintaro, make up with Kazunari. That might work and make up your luck for the rest of today."

The shooter nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Head back to practice. You don't want to miss the practice games. You could learn from them. And send Kazunari out here for me, as well. I'd like to speak with him."

When Midorima went in, he called Takao out. "Takao, go outside. Akashi wants to talk to you."

"Ah, okay," the hawk-eyed boy said. _Shit, what does Akashi want? He's not gonna try to kill me or anything, is he?_ He stood up, walked outside, and found Akashi leaning against the building.

"Hello, Kazunari."

"Hey, Akashi," he said with nervous laughter. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I called Shintaro out here earlier to discuss your massacre in that practice match. I've seen you play better."

The heterochromatic eyes of the emperor made Takao feel like he had to say something or die. "Ah, yeah. That was not my best game."

"I can see that. That unexpected kiss from earlier is distracting you, no?"

The Shutoku player's eyes widened. That was true, but he decided to play dumb. "Whaaat? Nah," he said, grinning.

"I can see right through you, you know? Pretending to be ignorant isn't going to do anything but increase your problems."

Takao wiped the grin off his face. "How'd you know?"

"How you and Shintaro played in that game gave it away. Both of you are distracted enough for it to be affecting your playing that badly. Shintaro's just pinning the blame on his luck. At least, you have enough sense to know that it's because of the incident at breakfast. The way you reacted earlier was also a huge clue, though," Akashi said with a smile. "You like him, am I right?"

His cheeks turned pink, but he nodded. _This is starting to sound familiar,_ Takao thought.

Akashi smiled. It wasn't his yandere one, though, which surprised Takao since he's only seen the emperor show that soft expression around Kuroko, but he guessed the Rakuzan point guard actually was very sincere when it came to the happiness of his friends. "Kazunari, get along with Shintaro. I trust you with him."

 _Akashi's really not as bad a guy as I thought,_ Takao thought.

"I suppose you have no idea how to solve this sudden conflict with him?"

"Nope," he answered.

"Talk it out with him. We'll have lunch before we rotate again so do it sometime between now and then."

Takao nodded.

"I'll also give you a hint on how to restore his luck for today."

"That's possible?"

"Yes. You understand how he depends on his lucky items, correct?"

"Yeah."

"His shoots aren't really based on his luck but in reality are because of the many hours he's spent practicing his shots, but he has the mentality that he can only make shots because of his luck. What I'm about to tell you is just something to calm his mind. He'll be able to concentrate once you do this."

Akashi motioned for Takao to come closer and whispered the plan to him. Takao turned pink again.

"Okay, I'll do it," he said.

"Good. Now, let's get back to practice. Shutoku's two-on-two games are probably done by now."

The point guards walked back inside, but before they separated ways, Takao grinned. "Thanks, Akashi!"

"You're welcome," the redhead replied with a small smile.

Just like Akashi said, the two-on-two games were over. Coach Nakatani blew his whistle to gather the players, explained the next passing exercise, then left the players to do it. Midorima and Takao were paired up again. They were supposed to run across the width of the court, passing the ball to each other. But, due to Midorima's luck (more of his unfocused mental state), Takao nailed him straight in the face with the ball. His glasses got knocked off his face.

"Sorry, Shin-chan!" Takao yelled. He felt bad enough already since he caused his bad luck. He ran over to his green-haired partner. "Are you okay?'

It was taking most of Midorima's strength to resist the urge to yell at the boy. He _was_ keeping Akashi's suggestion in mind, after all. "Somewhat," he answered. He got on the floor to look for his missing glasses. "Takao."

"Yes, Shin-chan?"

"Where are my glasses? I can't see."

Takao searched the floor and located the shattered spectacles not too far away from them. _Shit, I'm dead. Shin-chan's gonna kill me._ He picked them up. "Haha… Well, they're kind of… um… broken… Sorry."

Midorima was done. "TAKAOOOOOO!"

Everyone in the gym looked over to see what the fuss was. Akashi sighed. After assessing the situation, he was starting to doubt whether Midorima's superstition was just his head or some actual supernatural force that made everything around him go wrong.

Coach Nakatani walked over to them. After seeing what had happened, he sighed. "Midorima, do you have an extra pair of glasses?"

"In my suitcase."

"Takao, take him to get his extra."

"Yes, Coach," the hawk-eyed boy answered.

"Midorima, I'll have you sit out for the rest of this exercise just to make sure you're okay. A ball to the head is no light matter. If you feel okay after lunch when we start the next rotation, you can join in again."

The carrot nodded. "Takao, let's go."

"Yes, Shin-chan." Takao took his hand and led the taller boy out.

Rakuzan, who was 'doing their individual practice,' watched the two walk out. I say that in air quotes because they were really just watching the show with Shutoku and shooting every so often for it to be called actual practice. Operation AkaKuro smiled, thinking of how cute Midorima and Takao's interactions were. Their OTP was AkaKuro, but their main side ship had just become MidoTaka.

 _Those two better take the opportunity that was handed to them,_ Akashi thought.

Mayuzumi couldn't stop himself from smiling. _There's Akashi, Kuroko, Midorima, and Takao. Who's next? This trip is just full of lovesick fools._


	9. Third Time's a Charm

**(A/N: Hello, readers! I'm back! I hope you didn't wait too long. Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! :D)**

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Chapter Nine

With, Kaijo, who had just finished running across the beach, they were on their first practice break. Kise was itching to tell Kasamatsu about everything that happened earlier. He definitely wanted to tell him about what happened with Midorima and Takao (he didn't know if his senpai had seen the occurrence during breakfast) and what happened with Akashi and kuroko. Meanwhile, Kasamatsu was internally freaking out about how to put his confession into words.

When Coach Takeuchi blew his whistle, signaling the break, Kise was exuberant. He grabbed his water bottle and went running for the Kaijo point guard.

"SENPAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!" he yelled.

He immediately grabbed his upperclassman by the hand once he was in reach and dragged him away. Kise brought him to a somewhat secluded area because he couldn't let anyone know what he was about to tell him.

"Senpai! OMG. You will not believe me. It's outrageous! But it's such a scoop!"

Kasamatsu was panting since he was forced to run more without even getting a break. "Kise, cut the crap and spit it out! I'll hit you!" he threatened.

"Fine, fine." The blond noticed the fatigue of his senpai then realized he didn't let him rest a bit and made him run more, which led to him feeling a bit guilty. "Sorry, Kasamatsu-senpai. I didn't even let you catch your breath or grab your water, or anything. Here, take mine," he said, passing the bottle to him.

The former captain took it hesitantly, a bit shocked by the sudden act. "T-thanks." He drank a bit. _Wait, can't this count as an indirect kiss?!_ He suddenly felt all embarrassed. _What am I, a high school girl?_ He gave it back to the ace.

"Anyway, Midorimacchi and Takaocchi kissed!"

Kasamatsu gave him a blank stare. "Is that it? That's what you had to drag me all the way here for? Everyone knows about that already."

"There's something else, though! Akashicchi and Kurokocchi did too!"

Kasamatsu didn't look very surprised. He could feel the tension between those two from miles away.

"I brought you here because I found out by accident. I can't just keep it to myself because it's such a huge thing!"

"Kise, you should really butt out of their business, and pay attention to your own," he scolded.

"But, senpai! I have to keep tabs on the—"

Kasamatsu grabbed his shirt and pulled the taller boy down, cutting him off with a kiss. Kise was too shocked to even respond.

"Kise, I like you, idiot," he said, face flushed.

The blond was speechless. _EH? SENPAI LIKES ME?_

He turned around. "Forget it. Forget it even happened. I'm going back." Kasamatsu walked back, leaving Kise behind. _Damn, I actually said it. But I got no response._ He gave a sad smile, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest. _I was ready for this, but I didn't know it would hurt this much._ He felt something wet roll down his cheeks. _Am I actually crying? When did I become such a wimp?_

The former captain was a good distance away from Kise when he stopped to wipe his tears away with his arm. he couldn't come back crying. It was his pride as a captain.

When he got back, he got questioned by Moriyama, who immediately noticed his friend's red eyes. "Kasamatsu, what happened?"

"It's nothing."

"Are you sure? It doesn't look like nothing to me."

"Yeah," he insisted. "It's just something stupid."

"It can't be stupid if you're crying."

"It is. Believe me."

Moriyama looked at him skeptically but said, "Fine. But you know you can talk to me, right? We've known each other for, like, forever."

Kasamatsu nodded.

"Alright." He patted him on the back then the two went back to the rest of the team. Kise hadn't come back yet.

When the break ended, Kaijo rotated with Touo and went to circuits. Kasamatsu did the exercise without problem, but Kise was the opposite. The former captain's confession made him unable to focus. It didn't help that he noticed his puffy eyes and that he seemed to be avoiding him at the moment. Kise could only watch the point guard's back as he ran ahead of him.

That moment earlier, Kise hadn't responded because he couldn't believe it was actually happening. He'd long since had feelings for his captain, but he couldn't believe that his senpai actually liked him back. But before he could say anything, Kasamatsu had already walked away. He needed to give him an answer.

When Kise had finished, he and Kasamatsu were the only ones done. The model knew he had to give him his answer. He might've said to forget it, but how could he at this point?

Kise sat next to his senpai and grabbed his arm so he wouldn't go anywhere else, which he looked like he was going to do. "Kasamatsu-senpai," he said, looking his former captain straight in the eyes.

"What, idiot?"

"I'm answering your confession."

Kasamatsu thought he might even be kidding, but the blond's face was completely serious. "I thought I told you to forget it happened," he said, looking away. He could feel the pain returning.

Kise took his senpai's face in his hands and pressed his lips to his. Kasamatsu's face went red. "No, senpai. I'm not forgetting it because it's important to me, and I like you back," he said, a faint blush making its way across his cheeks. "I've liked you since last year. Earlier, I was just so surprised that you even liked me back that I couldn't say anything. It's just that I never thought you would ever look at me in the same way I saw you."

"Wha— Y-you did?" All this time, Kasamatsu thought he was the one with one-sided feelings.

"I did."

The two said nothing for a moment.

"So does this mean we're together now?" Kasamatsu asked quietly.

Kise kissed him again, his heart beating fast, then smiled. "Yes."

The two intertwined their fingers together with happy faces. They could never be more content with life than at this moment.

Unknowing to them, the former Touo captain caught a glimpse of them and smiled. "I see that went well."

"What did?" Aomine asked.

"Nothing at all," Imayoshi answered.

 _You creepy ass, Kansai-speaking megane!_ the tanned player thought.

~The Author~

Takao led Midorima back to the hotel. His heart was beating so fast he thought he might die because he was actually holding hands with the tsundere, Shin-chan. And the carrot wasn't objecting or anything because he couldn't see. The hawk-eyed boy didn't even realize he'd stopped walking because he was staring at Midorima's seemingly sparkly, emerald green eyes. He had really long eyelashes too.

"Takao, what's wrong? Why did we stop?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Takao turned red when he caught himself. _Thank god he can't see me right now!_ "Shin-chan, you have really pretty eyes."

"Wha— Where did that come from?!" the green-haired boy got a bit flushed. He brought his free hand up to push up his glasses then remembered he didn't have them at the moment.

"It's just that I don't see your eyes without your glasses in the way very often."

"I see," Midorima replied, stiffly.

The two walked on in awkward silence.

The Shutoku point guard couldn't take it. He was freaking out so much right now. His heart was a mess and so were his thoughts. As for Akashi's plan to trick Midorima into thinking he got today's luck back, Takao didn't know how he was gonna accomplish the task. He could feel his face flushing at the thought of it. He really hoped Midorima couldn't feel how warm his hands were right now.

A few minutes later, they got to the hotel.

"Shin-chan, where's your room?" Takao asked.

"In the hallway where Shutoku's is, but it's the room at the very end of the hall," he answered.

Takao brought him there. He was surprised at how neat everything was in there considering Aomine, Kise, and Murasakibara were in that room too. He assumed Akashi made them clean lest they be subjected to a punishment. Midorima went to the green suitcase that was pushed against the wall and sat on his knees to find the spare glasses.

 _Well, it's either now or never,_ Takao thought, his face tinting pink and heart speeding. He sat down next to the carrot. "Shin-chan."

"Yes, Takao?" The taller boy kept searching, not even glancing toward Takao's direction.

"You know, there's a charm to help you get your luck back."

The shooting guard finally looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

Takao felt his face heat up. He swore his heart just skipped a beat. "Stay still and close your eyes."

He did so.

"It'll only work if you truly believe it will so make sure you do." The point guard took his partner's hands in his own and leaned closer to the shooting guard. _Akashi, this better work!_ He closed his eyes and kissed him.

Midorima's eyes shot open as soon as he felt the familiar soft sensation on his lips. He jerked back again, his face red. "Takao!"

The hawk-eyed boy looked to the floor, face red, as well. He knew this was gonna happen. "Y-yeah…?" he said, awkwardly. He couldn't look him in the face.

"H-h-h-how is that supposed to help?! That's what caused this in the f-first place!" he stuttered out.

"I-it'll c-c-cancel out," he stuttered back. "Y-y-you know the s-s-saying 'the third time's a charm,' right?" He hadn't noticed that they were still holding each other's hands. "T-that w-was the second time!"

Midorima said nothing for a while. But he did notice the boy's shaking hands.

Takao looked up, expecting him to be even more mad. His bangs covered his face so the point guard really couldn't see it. He averted his eyes again, waiting for the explosion, but it never came.

When the Shutoku ace finally looked up, he looked at his partner. He couldn't clearly see his face because he hadn't found his glasses yet. He gently brought a hand up to Takao's face. "Takao, look at me. I don't need to see you to know you're looking away. I know your mannerisms well enough."

The smaller boy looked at him, surprised.

"You're going to help me with the charm, right?"

He nodded.

"So if we're going to do it, we have to do it right."

"E-eh? So that means…"

"Yes, Takao." Midorima was as red as a tomato, but Takao couldn't really say anything since he was the same. "We're doing this the right way. So it will work." As the tsundere he was, he needed an excuse to show how much he 'didn't care.' The shooting guard didn't say anything, but he knew Takao was blushing because he could feel the heat radiating from his face. "You're okay with this?"

"Y-yeah, Shin-chan."

Midorima nodded, his heart beating quickly. With the hand holding Takao's (which still hadn't stopped shaking), he entwined his taped fingers and Takao's together. With the hand at Takao's face, he ran his thumb over the smaller boy's bottom lip. He leaned closer and softly pressed his lips to his partner's smooth ones. They closed their eyes and moved in sync with each other, the syncopation from earlier gone. Their kiss was warming. Not like hardcore, 'whoa, I need you, bro' heat (you get what I mean), but like cute cat videos or stories on the news about little kids doing cute things—a heartfelt warmth that tended to the soul. It was nice and proper, as what would be expected of Midorima, but it still held the profound feelings the two shared.

After what seemed like hours but was just a few minutes, they broke away for much needed air and rested their foreheads against the other's with smiles on their faces.

"Shin-chan, I love you."

"I know. You couldn't have been any more obvious," he said, staring into his silver eyes.

"How'd you know?"

"You never would've agreed to do something like this for someone else."

Takao laughed. "True."

Midorima smiled. He leaned down to kiss him again, but Takao stopped him.

"Shin-chan, we did this to get your luck back. It'll get ruined if we do it again," he said, playfully.

"I'll risk it for you. You're my lucky item for today after all."

"Well, I won't let you ruin your luck because it's important to you. I'm fully capable of waiting."

"Fine. I'll just wait for tomorrow then," he said. "Are you alright with that?"

"Anything for you, Shin-chan." The hawk-eyed boy was touched that his partner (and now boyfriend) was willing to give up today's luck for him, though.

Midorima pulled him closer and into an embrace. "I love you, too," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.

Takao went red again.

They stayed like that for a few moments then the green-haired boy said, "Now help me find my glasses?"

"Of course," he said with a smile.

When they found the glasses, Takao put them on his loved one's face, and the lucky item walked out of the hotel hand in hand. When they got back to the gym, Akashi and Mayuzumi noticed them first. Takao shot Akashi a thumbs up to let him know that things went well. Mayuzumi immediately went to the Uncrowned Kings.

"Guys, they've paired up," he said.

"Who?" Hayama asked.

"MidoTaka."

"Eh?!" Mibuchi looked to the two smiling Shutoku players. "Aww! So kawaii!"

"They look good together," Nebuya said.

"Of course they do! It's Midorima-kun and Takao-kun. Two ikemen!" Mibuchi said.

Akashi sighed at his teammates' antics. But he was happy that the stick-in-the-mud known as Midorima Shintaro could finally be happy with someone.

"One pair made on this trip. How many more hookups until AkaKuro?" Mayuzumi mumbled to himself.

"What was that, Chihiro?" Akashi asked.

"Nothing. Just something I was thinking of."

The redhead nodded brushed it off then told his team to continue practicing.

Then the storm known as lunchtime came.

* * *

 **(A/N: Haha, did you catch the verbal irony? XD**

 **1\. MidoTaka became a lucky item. And in case you don't get it, Takao was at first Midorima's lucky item. Then they became an item, which made them both pretty lucky to have the other.**

 **2\. Third time's a charm. With KiKasa, Kise mentioned two kisses between Midorima and Takao then between Akashi and Kuroko. The third was his own with Kasamatsu. Then with MidoTaka, 'third time's a charm' was Akashi's plan to hook them up. It took three kisses to clear up Midorima's bad luck and for him to realize that he actually liked Takao. (Well, if I'm being technical here, it took two to make him realize his feelings, and the third was when he finally acted on it.)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I'm just now realizing how much my english homework is affecting me. XD Until next time!)**


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